ICMR Study: Shorter All-Oral Regimens for Drug-Resistant TB Are Cost-Effective in India

12 February 2026

Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press release

An economic evaluation published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research has demonstrated that shorter, six-month all-oral treatment regimens for multidrug-resistant and rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) are cost-effective and offer improved health outcomes compared to the currently used longer regimens in India.

The study was conducted by ICMR – National Institute for Research in TB (ICMR-NIRT). It assessed the cost-effectiveness of bedaquiline-based regimens — BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid) and BPaLM (with moxifloxacin) — in comparison with the existing bedaquiline-containing shorter (9–11 months) and longer (18–20 months) treatment regimens used under the National TB Elimination Programme.

Read the full press release here.

Source: Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare