Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss announced that India would achieve its United Nations set targets for the control of Tuberculosis (TB) by April 2006. The UN required India to be able to identify 70% of the TB cases and treat 85% of such cases by the end of 2005. He also said that country wills double its budget to USD 260 million (up by 56% from last year) to fight this disease. India has the largest number of TB patients amounting to 20% of the world’s total. The Government’s Observed Treatment Services program launched to cover 1 billion people is the largest health care program in the world and has brought the number of infected from 2 million to 1.7 million and the death rate from 425,000 to 400,000 annually.

Home Page