With tuberculosis (TB) cases rising once again, health experts are worried about the drop in international funding that India was earlier receiving for conducting various tuberculosis programmes to contain the epidemic. The decline in funding amid the Covid-19 outbreak in the past two years has adversely affected TB-DOTS (Directly observed treatment, short-course) programme, say experts. “India was receiving approximately 200 million dollars (Rs 1,500 crore approximately) per year  from global agencies to contain tuberculosis.

However, after the outbreak of Covid, it has slackened both in terms of funding and implementation of anti-tuberculosis programmes on the ground, in India. This figure is approximately 20-25 per cent of the total annual expenditure incurred by the health ministry. The health ministry has chipped in by providing local funds to bridge the deficit,” said Dr Subhash Hira, professor of Global Health at the University of Washington-Seattle, and advisor to WHO-TDR-Geneva.