National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP)
Direct answer
The National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) — renamed from the Revised National TB Control Programme in 2019-20 — targets a TB-free India by 2025, ahead of the global Sustainable Development Goal target of 2030. Its National Strategic Plan rests on four pillars — Detect, Treat, Prevent, Build — delivering free diagnosis (smear, CBNAAT, TrueNat) and free daily fixed-dose-combination treatment (2HRZE/4HRE for drug-sensitive TB), with notification and tracking through the Ni-kshay portal.
What you must remember
- Renaming and goal: RNTCP became NTEP in 2019-20; elimination means incidence below 1 case per million per year, targeted by 2025 — five years ahead of the SDG target.
- NSP pillars: Detect, Treat, Prevent, Build — the framework of the National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination.
- Diagnostics: sputum smear microscopy at the periphery; CBNAAT (GeneXpert MTB/RIF) as an initial diagnostic test, detecting the bacillus and rifampicin resistance together; TrueNat as the chip-based platform; line probe assay and culture for drug resistance.
- Drug-sensitive treatment: daily fixed-dose combinations by weight band — two months of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol (2HRZE), then four months of HRE (4HRE) — under direct observation, the DOTS principle.
- Drug-resistant TB: MDR-TB is resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin; care has shifted to all-oral regimens built around bedaquiline, including the WHO-recommended six-month BPaLM regimen (bedaquiline, pretomanid, linezolid, moxifloxacin) for eligible patients.
- Notification: TB notification is mandatory for all providers, public and private, through Ni-kshay, the web-based tracking system.
- Support and prevention: Ni-kshay Poshan gives Rs 1,000 monthly nutritional support per patient during treatment; the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan enlists volunteer Ni-kshay Mitras; TB preventive treatment covers contacts and high-risk groups; BCG at birth protects mainly against childhood miliary TB and TB meningitis.
Common confusion
Two pairs confuse candidates. Names and eras: RNTCP (1993 onwards, DOTS) versus NTEP (2019-20 onwards, elimination agenda) — old question banks still use the old name, so map answers to the current one. Regimen families: 2HRZE/4HRE treats drug-sensitive disease; previously treated and drug-resistant cases follow separate, longer regimens, so do not mix these with older category labels. Keep Ni-kshay (notification portal) distinct from Ni-kshay Poshan (nutrition scheme), and remember that India reports the world's largest TB caseload in WHO assessments.
Exam-focused takeaway
NEET-PG tests this topic for currency and precision: the current programme name and renaming year, the 2025 goal, the four NSP pillars, CBNAAT's dual detection of bacilli and rifampicin resistance, the 2HRZE/4HRE notation, the definition of MDR-TB, and the Ni-kshay Poshan support. Stems often pair programme facts with first-line drug pharmacology, or with concepts like latent infection versus disease and BCG's limited protection against adult pulmonary TB. Because these facts change with programme updates, cross-check current official guidance while revising.
Practise previous-year and exam-style NTEP and tuberculosis questions inside the PrepElephant app — topic-wise banks, full-length mocks and revision tools that keep programme facts current.
Frequently asked questions
What is the NTEP and its target year?
The National TB Elimination Programme, renamed from RNTCP in 2019-20, aims for a TB-free India by 2025, ahead of the SDG target of 2030.
What is DOTS?
Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course — supervised daily drug administration ensuring adherence, now embedded in NTEP's daily FDC treatment.
Which is the initial diagnostic test under NTEP?
CBNAAT (GeneXpert MTB/RIF), the initial diagnostic test that also detects rifampicin resistance; smear microscopy and TrueNat serve peripheral roles.
What is the regimen for a new drug-sensitive TB case?
Daily weight-band-based FDCs: two months of HRZE, then four months of HRE — six months in total.
What is Ni-kshay?
The web-based system for mandatory TB notification and patient tracking; Ni-kshay Poshan is the companion scheme paying Rs 1,000 monthly nutrition support.
What defines MDR-TB?
Resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin; eligible patients now receive shorter all-oral regimens including BPaLM.
Practise this in the PrepElephant app
Question banks, previous-year questions, mock tests and revision tools — for National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) and Community Medicine. Free to start.