UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India needs innovative strategies to eliminate TB
Q1. The BPaLM regimen, recently rolled out for drug-resistant tuberculosis in India, is being implemented as a treatment option under which of the following national programmes?
- A. National Health Mission (NHM)
- B. National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP)
- C. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)
- D. Mission Indradhanush
Q2. As per the WHO Global TB Report 2025, which one of the following countries bears the single highest tuberculosis burden in the world?
- A. Indonesia
- B. China
- C. India
- D. Philippines
Q3. In the context of India's TB elimination strategy, the term 'Ni-kshay Mitra' most accurately refers to which one of the following?
- A. A digital surveillance portal used by the Central TB Division to track notified TB cases in real time
- B. A donor (individual, corporate or institutional) who voluntarily provides nutritional, additional diagnostic or vocational support to TB patients on treatment
- C. A category of frontline health worker trained to administer the BPaLM regimen under directly observed therapy
- D. A cash transfer scheme that pays a fixed monthly nutrition allowance directly to notified TB patients from the Union Budget
Q4. With reference to the BPaLM regimen approved for use against drug-resistant tuberculosis in India, consider the following drugs:
1. Bedaquiline
2. Pretomanid
3. Linezolid
4. Rifampicin
Which of the above are correctly identified as constituents of the BPaLM combination?
- Bedaquiline
- Pretomanid
- Linezolid
- Rifampicin
- A. 1, 2 and 3 only
- B. 1, 3 and 4 only
- C. 2, 3 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q5. According to the WHO Global TB Report 2025, by approximately what percentage did India's TB incidence rate decline between 2015 and 2024 (from 237 per lakh to 187 per lakh population)?
- A. About 11%
- B. About 17%
- C. About 21%
- D. About 28%