TB campaign pays off

India is making dramatic progress in the fight against tuberculosis. TB infects 2 million Indians each year, one-quarter of all new cases globally. A treatment campaign that started in 1998 has now reached 40 per cent of India’s population, up from 2 per cent at the outset, according to a report by the Indian government and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Four-fifths of patients are now recovering after treatment, with death rates in the treated areas slumping from 29 per cent to 4 per cent.