Workplaces as Frontlines: How Industry Can Accelerate TB Elimination

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health challenge for India, despite encouraging progress in recent years. Sustained efforts have contributed to a steady decline in annual TB incidence, with the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 noting an overall 21% reduction since 2015. However, India continues to bear nearly 25% of the global TB burden, underscoring the need to further accelerate and sustain elimination efforts. Focused interventions on early detection, timely treatment initiation, and strengthened community engagement have contributed to a 16% decline in TB incidence (new cases emerging each year) and an 18% reduction in TB-related mortality since 2015.

Achieving TB elimination at scale requires a multi-sectoral approach, with strong collaboration between government, private sector, civil society, and communities. Public–private partnerships are therefore critical to expand reach, improve access to care, and drive sustained impact in the fight against TB.

Why TB Must Be a Corporate Priority?

Addressing tuberculosis (TB) is not just a public health priority but a business imperative for industry. An estimate by Global TB Caucus indicates that TB is expected to cost the world economy USD $1 trillion between 2015- 2030[1]. Certain occupational groups including miners, workers in stone crushing, cotton mills, construction, tea gardens, glass, weaving industries, and the vast unorganised labour force face a higher risk of TB due to their working and living conditions. In India, over 500 million people are part of the workforce, with a significant majority employed in the unorganised sector, often lacking access to regular health check-ups, insurance, and social security.

TB disproportionately affects individuals in their most economically productive years, leading to an average loss of 3-4 months of work and income translating to nearly 20-30% of annual household earnings. This results in absenteeism, reduced productivity, and increased out-of-pocket expenditure for workers, while industries bear indirect costs related to workforce turnover, recruitment, and training.

At a macro level, the economic burden is substantial, with TB costing India over ₹13,000 crore annually and an estimated $13 billion loss to the global economy due to undiagnosed and untreated TB among workers. These realities underscore why corporate engagement is critical, not only to safeguard workforce health and productivity but also to contribute meaningfully to broader economic resilience and national TB elimination goals.[2]

How can Corporate engage in fight against TB?

The private sector is a critical stakeholder in India’s fight against tuberculosis. The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) outlines multiple pathways to enable meaningful and structured private sector engagement, recognising that industry plays a vital role in expanding reach, improving access, and strengthening outcomes.

Launched in September 2022, the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (PMTBMBA) aims to mobilise communities, institutions, and industry to support TB patients through a patient-centric approach. It focuses on identifying undiagnosed cases, reducing deaths, and preventing new infections through targeted screening, upfront diagnostics, prompt treatment, differentiated care for high-risk patients, and support measures such as nutrition and preventive therapy for at-risk groups. Aligned with these national priorities, there are clear and actionable opportunities for the corporate sector to contribute meaningfully to the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.

Broadly, Corporate engagement can be structured across three key approaches as below:

Committing to TB-Free Workplaces: One of the most impactful ways in which the corporate sector can contribute to the fight against TB is by adopting a TB-Free Workplace approach, integrating TB prevention and care into organisational policies and workplace wellness frameworks. As employers increasingly recognise the link between employee well-being and productivity, addressing TB must become a structured and deliberate part of workplace health strategies. At its core, a TB-Free Workplace approach goes beyond awareness. It requires companies to institutionalise policies that promote early detection, timely treatment, and a stigma-free work environment. Employees should be educated on TB symptoms, transmission, and the importance of seeking care without fear.

However, awareness alone is not sufficient. Organisations must actively ensure that no employee faces stigma or discrimination due to TB, as fear of job loss or social exclusion often delays diagnosis and treatment, increasing both health risks and workplace transmission. Corporate policies play a critical role in enabling this shift. Organisations should include non-discrimination clauses in their policies, ensuring zero tolerance for bias against employees affected by TB. Companies can integrate TB screening into annual health check-ups, particularly for high-risk workforce segments, to facilitate early identification of cases. Supportive workplace practices are equally essential. Employers should provide adequate paid medical leave, especially during the initial infectious phase (typically 1–2 months), and create an enabling environment that encourages treatment adherence and return-to-work support. Flexible work arrangements, where feasible, can further help employees complete their treatment without financial or professional setbacks.

Improve TB Notification and Care Continuity: Given that a significant proportion of individuals with TB symptoms first seek care in the private sector, corporate hospitals, clinics, and healthcare networks play critical role to improve early detection and treatment outcomes. Private healthcare providers must ensure timely notification of all TB cases to the Ni-kshay portal, thereby strengthening surveillance and enabling better patient tracking. Corporate and private hospitals can also take on the role of nodal centres, aligning their systems with national protocols for diagnosis, treatment, and reporting. Further, the private sector can support continuity of care by adopting adherence monitoring tools, collaborating with Patient Provider Support Agencies (PPSAs), and facilitating access to nutritional support schemes like Nikshay Poshan Yojana. Patient Provider Support Agencies (PPSAs) are organisations engaged under the NTEP which act as an interface between patients, private healthcare providers, and the government system to ensure case notification, treatment adherence, follow-up, and access to free diagnostics, drugs, and social support.

Become Ni-kshay Mitra: Another impactful approach for corporate partnership in TB Mukt Bharat is through participation in the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative, which enables organisations to provide direct, patient-centric support to individuals undergoing TB treatment. As part of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, the initiative allows corporates to contribute through nutritional, social, and economic assistance, with contributions qualifying as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) under Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013. Corporates can register on the Ni-kshay Mitra portal and adopt TB patients (Ni-kshay beneficiaries), providing support such as monthly nutritional kits (food baskets), access to diagnostics and care, psychosocial counselling, and adherence support through follow-ups mechanisms and digital tools. Additionally, private sector the State and District TB division in provision of Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) which are used for screening camps in remote areas and diagnostic (which includes NAAT/CBNAAT machines and portable X-ray machines). By engaging as Ni-kshay Mitras, corporates can play a tangible and visible role in improving patient outcomes, reducing catastrophic costs, and strengthening community-level support systems ultimately accelerating progress towards a TB-free India

By embedding these measures into workplace policies and practices, industry can play a transformative role not only in safeguarding employee health but also in reducing transmission, improving productivity, and contributing meaningfully to India’s goal of TB elimination.

CII TB-Free Workplace: Enabling Corporate Leadership in TB Elimination

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is playing a catalytic role in mobilising the private sector towards India’s TB elimination goals through its TB-Free Workplace Initiative. CII signed an MoU with the Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), to strengthen industry participation in the national effort to achieve a TB Mukt Bharat by 2030.

The CII TB-Free Workplace initiative focuses on embedding TB prevention, detection, and care within workplace systems by enabling companies to adopt structured interventions such as employee awareness and sensitisation, regular onsite screening, and treatment and adherence support for TB-positive employees in collaboration with State and District TB authorities. The campaign also promotes destigmatisation, provides digital support through the CII TB App, and facilitates linkages with government systems, including onboarding onto platforms like the Nikshay portal for seamless coordination, reporting, and access to support..

The initiative has already demonstrated tangible impact. Over the past year, CII has facilitated 6 workplace screening camps across Delhi, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu, reaching over 600 employees through awareness sessions, screening 433 individuals, and conducting chest X-rays for 215 employees. One TB person identified through these efforts was supported with timely initiation of treatment under the government’s Nikshay programme, in coordination with State and District TB authorities.

By creating an enabling ecosystem for corporate action, CII’s TB-Free Workplace Initiative is positioning industry as a key partner in advancing early detection, reducing stigma, and accelerating India’s journey towards TB elimination.

Strengthening Corporate Engagement: Way Forward

To further enhance the role of corporates in TB elimination, there is a need to create a more enabling and incentivised ecosystem for sustained engagement. Recognising and rewarding industry efforts can serve as a strong motivator. State and national-level recognition platforms for TB-free workplaces and high-performing companies can help showcase leadership and encourage wider participation.

In addition, incentivising private sector contributions through supportive policies, simplified engagement processes, and clear alignment with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) frameworks, particularly during the annual CSR planning cycle, can drive greater participation. Strengthening public–private coordination mechanisms, including streamlined linkages with State and District TB divisions, can further enable companies to implement interventions more effectively and at scale. Further, providing standardised toolkits, digital solutions, and technical guidance can support corporates especially small and medium enterprises in adopting TB workplace interventions. Creating peer learning platforms and industry networks can also help share best practices and scale successful models.

By combining recognition, incentives, and ease of engagement, India can unlock the full potential of the corporate sector as a key partner in accelerating progress towards TB elimination.

References:

[1]https://www.devex.com/news/tb-to-cost-world-economy-1-trillion-by-2030-warns-report-91520

[2] https://ntep.in/book/export/html/6243?utm_source