India Dispatches Around 3 Tonnes of Anti-Tuberculosis Medicines to Colombo

Key facts

• India dispatched about 3 tonnes of anti-tuberculosis medicines to Colombo aboard an Indian Air Force C130J aircraft to support Sri Lanka's public health system.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced the dispatch on X, stating India remains committed to supporting Sri Lanka's public health system.
• WHO South-East Asia Region member States committed to stronger, integrated action against tuberculosis at the 79th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia.
• The WHO South-East Asia Region accounted for about 34 per cent of new TB cases globally in 2024, with an estimated 3.68 million cases and around 433,000 deaths.
• Around 150,000 people in the region developed multidrug- and rifampicin-resistant TB, more than 38 per cent of the global burden.
• Introducing a TB vaccine from 2028 alongside improved interventions could avert around 1.45 million new TB cases and 300,000 deaths by 2030, according to regional modelling.
• Since 2015, TB incidence in the region has fallen by 16 per cent and deaths by 23 per cent, with treatment coverage exceeding 85 per cent, but gains remain short of End TB Strategy targets of an 80 per cent incidence reduction and 90 per cent death reduction by 2030.