Pune: Maharashtra recorded more than 21.93 lakh new tuberculosis (TB) cases between Jan and Dec 2025, marginally lower than the 23.05 lakh cases reported in 2024, official data showed.Data also indicates that treatment was successful in 88% of TB cases, while 3.3% of patients died due to the infection.Officials attributed the high number of reported cases to extensive outreach by healthcare workers and improved access to diagnostic facilities and medicines.Of the total 21.93 lakh cases notified in the state, 8,102 were identified as multidrug-resistant cases.Districts that exceeded their annual notification target included Thane (4,369 cases), Ratnagiri (2,287), Latur (2,850), Sindhudurg (797) and Beed (2,116).
Among municipal corporations, Navi Mumbai reported the highest number of cases at 6,000, followed by Ulhasnagar (1,800), Dhule (1,656), Kolhapur (1,403), and Ahilyanagar (783).In contrast, districts such as Washim (1,499), Sangli (2,408), Nagpur (2,898), Ahilyanagar (4,546) and Raigad (3,894) fell short of their targets. Poor-performing civic bodies included Bhiwandi (3,891), Kalyan-Dombivli (3,725), Nashik (3,149), Nagpur (7,126) and Amravati (1,650).The target for a specific city or district is based on multiple factors, such as population and prevalence.Explaining the trend, Dr Radhakishan Pawar, deputy director of the TB and Leprosy Unit, health services, Maharashtra, said the presumptive TB examination rate had increased sharply since the pandemic. “Before Covid-19, the rate was around 900. It has now risen to about 3,400, indicating increased identification and testing of suspected cases,” he said.Pawar added that the state provides free diagnostic services, medicines, nutritional support and travel assistance to TB patients in both public and private hospitals.The state has consistently reported high TB notifications in recent years, with 2.30 lakh cases in 2024, 2.33 lakh in 2023 and 2.33 lakh in 2022. Pawar said the final figures for 2025 would be released within a week, as delayed entries from the previous year were still being updated.Officials said aggressive case detection efforts by the health department had led to higher notification numbers.
