New Delhi: Tuberculosis is tightening its grip on Delhi’s overcrowded slum clusters, JJ colonies and densely populated settlements, triggering fresh concern within the health department as thousands of new infections surface in an aggressive screening campaign across the national capital.
In a massive public health exercise conducted between March 24 and May 5, health authorities identified 12,078 new tuberculosis patients during intensive door-to-door screening and medical camps in vulnerable localities. The alarming figures have once again exposed the deep connection between poverty, overcrowding, malnutrition and the spread of TB in urban India.
Delhi, already carrying the highest tuberculosis burden in the country, reported a prevalence rate of 747 cases per lakh population according to the National TB Prevalence Survey (2019-2021). Officials fear that cramped living conditions, poor ventilation and weak immunity in slum settlements are creating ideal breeding grounds for the airborne disease.
Delhi Health Minister Dr. Pankaj Kumar Singh said the government deliberately focused on the most vulnerable pockets, including slum areas, shelter homes, night shelters, jails, migrant worker settlements and other congested localities.
“We have identified 38 high-risk wards where the possibility of transmission is extremely high because of overcrowding and poor living conditions,” he said.
The screening drive revealed a worrying trend — tuberculosis is no longer confined only to the lungs. Nearly 42 percent of the detected patients were suffering from extra-pulmonary TB, where the infection attacks organs other than the lungs including lymph nodes, bones, intestines and the brain.
Among those diagnosed, 1,323 children were found infected, while 10,755 cases were reported among adolescents and young adults, indicating that the disease is increasingly affecting Delhi’s working-age population.
To intensify surveillance, the health department screened 71,603 people through 224 camps established in high-risk localities and another 79 camps in cluster settlements. The campaign relied heavily on handheld digital X-ray machines integrated with Artificial Intelligence technology.
Under the system, chest X-rays are uploaded instantly into AI software that detects abnormalities such as cavities, infiltrates and fibrosis within seconds. Suspected patients are then immediately referred for molecular sputum testing through NAAT technology, significantly reducing delays in diagnosis.
Public health experts say the use of AI-driven screening is helping uncover “silent TB” cases that otherwise remain undetected for months, allowing infected individuals to unknowingly spread the disease within families and communities.
The Delhi Economic Survey 2025-26 has already described tuberculosis as “the most pressing health problem” facing the capital and termed it a “major public health challenge” requiring urgent intervention.
Government estimates suggest that nearly 40 percent of Delhi’s population carries latent TB bacteria, meaning millions remain vulnerable to active disease if their immunity weakens due to poor nutrition, pollution, stress or other illnesses.
Doctors point out that Delhi’s worsening air pollution may also be aggravating respiratory vulnerability, making residents of congested settlements more susceptible to infection.
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, while highlighting India’s national TB elimination efforts earlier, said the country’s response has been built on “Jan Bhagidari” — a collective social responsibility model inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision.
“India’s TB response has become a whole-of-society movement. AI-enabled handheld X-ray units and Nikshay Vahans are taking diagnostics directly to communities most at risk,” Nadda had stated.
According to the Union Health Ministry, over 20 crore people across the country have been screened under intensified campaigns, leading to the detection of 32.65 lakh TB cases, including nearly 10.9 lakh asymptomatic patients who otherwise may have remained undiagnosed.
The Centre is now preparing to deploy more than 3,000 AI-powered handheld X-ray devices nationwide along with next-generation diagnostic systems. Authorities are also developing data-driven surveillance tools to identify high-risk urban wards and villages where targeted screening can be intensified.
Despite technological advances, health experts warn that Delhi’s TB battle cannot be won through diagnostics alone. They stress that unless issues like malnutrition, overcrowding, sanitation and housing conditions are addressed simultaneously, the capital may continue to remain one of India’s worst TB hotspots.
For thousands living in the city’s narrow lanes and packed settlements, tuberculosis is no longer merely a disease — it is becoming a reflection of the widening urban health divide.
(Cover Image Credit: asha-india.org)
