India launches youth-led JOSH teams to fight tuberculosis

India has launched youth-led JOSH teams to fight tuberculosis across 55 districts in the first phase of a national push to find cases early and help patients finish treatment. Union Health Minister J P Nadda launched the teams, known as Joint Squad for Health (JOSH) teams, in New Delhi on 8 October under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. The teams will raise awareness of tuberculosis symptoms, encourage testing, support patients through treatment and challenge the stigma that still surrounds the disease.

Each team brings together five MY Bharat volunteers and five National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets, supervised by a designated Class-I officer at block or ward level. In total, 6,347 squads have been formed for the tuberculosis elimination drive, bringing together 31,429 MY Bharat youth volunteers and 26,794 NCC cadets. The first phase covers 55 districts across 11 states and union territories, and all 804 districts joined the launch virtually.

The launch brought together three ministries: health, youth affairs and sports, and defence. MY Bharat is the youth platform under the youth affairs ministry, and the NCC is the youth wing under the defence ministry. The health ministry provides the programme framework, while the two volunteer cadres supply the field force. The JOSH teams will work at village, block and ward level for the TB elimination effort, and a JOSH feature on the TB Mukt Bharat app lets them report their work for monitoring.

How the teams will work on tuberculosis

The teams will visit households and communities to talk about symptoms, prevention and treatment, and to encourage people with symptoms to get tested. They will also help identify people who may have tuberculosis but have not yet reached health services. Once a patient is diagnosed, team members will counsel them on taking medicines regularly and finishing the full course, while working against myths and discrimination linked to the disease.

Diagnosis and treatment remain the work of health services, not volunteers. The teams act as a link between communities and clinics, building trust with people who may be reluctant to seek testing for tuberculosis. A JOSH feature has been added to the TB Mukt Bharat app for team reporting, and outreach materials including a flipbook and brochure support the field work. An information and medicine-reminder service, called the Khushi Avatar (e-Sangini), works in 12 Indian languages.

Tuberculosis figures cited at the launch

At the launch, Nadda said India had recorded a 21 percent fall in tuberculosis incidence, compared with a 12 percent fall globally. Treatment coverage in India had risen to 92 percent, compared with 78 percent globally, the government said. The government also said 67,933 panchayats across 697 districts were recognised as TB Mukt in 2026.

The drive builds on the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, the national campaign against TB, and on the idea that community participation can close gaps that clinics alone cannot reach. People who carry TB without symptoms were flagged at the launch as a particular concern, since such cases can go undetected and continue to spread infection. Reaching that hidden group is one reason the programme puts volunteers on door-to-door work rather than relying only on people coming forward to clinics. Volunteers will also work on myths and misconceptions, since fear of stigma can keep people from testing or from telling family members about a diagnosis.

The initiative is run by the health ministry with the youth affairs and sports ministry and the defence ministry, which oversee MY Bharat and the NCC respectively. Officials said the TB elimination programme will expand across the country after the 55-district first phase, with youth volunteers carrying the outreach into new districts. The slogan for the drive is "TB Haarega, Desh Jeetega." The work ahead for the teams is door-to-door outreach in those districts, with reporting through the TB Mukt Bharat app and regular checks on tuberculosis cases found and treatment completed.