12,078 New TB Cases Detected in Delhi in Just 42 Days During Special Screening Drive: Dainik Jagran Report
By Sunil Negi
NEW DELHI | 20 August 2026
The challenge of Tuberculosis (TB) in the national capital continues to remain serious, with a large number of new cases surfacing during a special screening campaign, according to a report published in Dainik Jagran.
As per Dainik Jagran, as many as 12,078 new TB patients were detected in Delhi in just 42 days during the special screening drive held this year from 24th March to 5th May. During this campaign, 71,603 people were examined, including 1,323 children and 10,755 adults.
Citing data from the drive, Dainik Jagran reported that about 42 percent of the detected patients were found to be suffering from Extra-Pulmonary TB.
Under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, till 1st July this year, Delhi has screened 28.83 lakh people, conducted 21.67 lakh chest X-rays and 3.65 lakh molecular tests. So far in this campaign, 1.75 lakh TB patients have been notified, Dainik Jagran said.
TB notification in Delhi has remained consistently high. According to Dainik Jagran, 1,00,523 cases were notified in 2023, 1,05,343 in 2024 and 1,12,977 in 2025 – more than one lakh cases for the third consecutive year. In the National TB Prevalence Survey conducted from 2019-21, the prevalence rate in Delhi was found to be 747 per lakh population.
Experts quoted by Dainik Jagran said that the detection of a large number of patients during screening cannot be directly taken as proof of increased TB infection. Active case finding and increased testing brings out such patients who were earlier outside the regular surveillance of the health system.
According to the birth and death data of the Delhi Government, as reported by Dainik Jagran, the total number of deaths due to TB in Delhi during 2005 to 2024 was 65,985. The highest number of deaths was recorded in 2024 at 5,093 and the lowest in 2007 at 2,516. In 2024, TB accounted for 4.86 percent of total deaths in Delhi.
As per Dainik Jagran, 38 high-risk wards in Delhi’s 11 districts have been identified for special surveillance. It is estimated that these wards cover more than 80 percent of the high-risk TB burden in Delhi, where emphasis is being laid on increasing active case finding, X-ray and molecular testing.
