‘Positive on HIV, India lags behind on TB, malaria front’

The study, ‘Global, regional, and national incidence and mortality for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria during 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013’, was conducted by an international consortium of more than 1,000 researchers from 106 countries and was led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The research consortium included nearly 20 experts in India.

Dr Nobhojit Roy, co-author of the study and Head, Department of Surgery Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Hospital, Mumbai, told The Indian Express that in 2013, globally, there were 7.5 million new TB cases and TB killed 1.4 million people. “However while India shares the global trend of reducing the number of TB cases and deaths, it carries a large share of the global burden. The reduction is less dramatic than what we are seeing in HIV,” says Roy.

Success at reducing the prevalence of TB in the country has fallen behind global progress, despite more significant gains against HIV/AIDS. Around the world, prevalence of TB in people without HIV/AIDS infection in 2013 was 160.2 (out of 100,000 people) but India’s prevalence was 275.3, Roy said.

TB mortality rates in the region declined annually over the course of the past decade by 4.2%, compared to the global decline of 3.7%. In East Asia, TB death rates fell annually by 7.5%. “As the world’s population grows older, tuberculosis will remain a major health threat, Roy said. The South and South East Asia region still accounts for over a third (35%) of new cases of TB and almost half (48%) of TB deaths.

Of the three diseases, India has made the most progress against HIV/AIDS. The Indian annual rate of decline in new infections since 2000 was more than four times that of the worldwide rate, a decrease of 16.3% per year compared to the global drop of 3.9%.