New Delhi, March 6 -- The government has disbursed Rs.3,649 crore to 12.4 million tuberculosis (TB) patients to help them with a nutritional diet, key to treating the disease, according to the health ministry official overseeing India's TB control efforts.

The payments were made by direct benefit transfer under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY), wherein a financial aid of Rs.6,000 is provided to TB patients for nutrition.

Also Read | Lupin recalls over 16,000 bottles of generic tuberculosis drug in the US

India accounts for around 26% of the world's TB cases.

TB is still one of the most infectious killers, causing more deaths than malaria or AIDS. Experts say that around 10 to 12% of recovered TB patients can catch TB again, with undern...