Treatment coverage
Also called: TB treatment coverage · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Treatment coverage tells us how many of a country's TB patients the health system actually finds and starts treating. It compares cases that are notified (officially reported) and put on treatment in a year with the estimated total number of new TB cases (incidence) that year.
Treatment coverage (%) = (TB cases notified and treated in a year ÷ estimated new TB cases that year) × 100
The patients who are not covered are the "missing cases". They are sick but untreated, so they can keep spreading TB. A higher coverage figure means fewer missing cases. It also means less spread of the disease and fewer deaths.
Example
India's TB treatment coverage rose from 53% in 2015 to 92% in 2024. In 2015, only about 53 of every 100 estimated TB patients were found and treated. By 2024, about 92 of every 100 were reached, which left about 8 missing cases per 100.
Don't confuse with
- Treatment success rate: this looks only at patients who have already started treatment. It measures the share who are cured or who complete the full course. Coverage asks "did we reach the patient?", while success asks "did the treatment work?". For example, the WHO Global TB Report 2026 gives India a 94% success rate for drug-susceptible TB, which is not the same as its 92% coverage.
- Incidence: this is the number of new TB cases each year, often given per lakh population. It is the denominator (the bottom number) in the coverage formula. It is not a measure of how well the health system performs.