If you want to control TB, prevent diabetes in the community, especially in India where rates of TB are amongst the highest and where the incidence of type 2 diabetes is rising sharply. As per a WHO report published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in 2014, patients with either diabetes or TB need to be cross-checked for the other disease. Fifteen percent of adult TB cases worldwide are already attributable to diabetes, with more than 40% occurring in India and China alone.

Diabetes can go undiagnosed for a long period; hence, proactive screening for diabetes in all patients with TB makes sense. Conversely, diabetes should be on the clinical radar when caring for people with TB.