Important Milestones

Key milestones that shaped the evolution of the New Delhi Tuberculosis Centre into a pioneering institution in tuberculosis control and research.

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Important Milestones in History of NDTB Centre

Established in 1940 as a model clinic by an agreement between TB Association of India and Government of India. Since its inception, the Government of India has provided grants in aid to the Centre for smooth functioning.
In 1951, it was upgraded as the first TB Demonstration cum Training Centre of the country.
In 1966, the Centre became a referral institute for tuberculosis patients.
The Centre was part of the 1955-58 ICMR project to estimate the prevalence of TB in the community.
The Centre was responsible for pioneering the concept of Organized Home Treatment (OHT) which was later on incorporated in the National TB Programme (NTP) as domiciliary treatment for TB.
Eight longitudinal disease prevalence surveys in the domiciliary area of the Centre conducted over a period of 30 years during 1962-92 which gave deep insights into natural history of TB in the community and its trends, providing vital information for TB control Programme planning at the national level.
In 1966, NDTBC became a referral centre for TB patients from five northern states in the country.
Part of multi-centric Short Course Chemotherapy (SCC) trials during the 1980s leading up to the formal adoption of SCC under the national programme.
Prevalence of initial and acquired drug resistance in Delhi and north India during 1992 feeding into strategies for treatment of Drug Resistant TB (DR-TB).
1998, NDTBC started implementation of DOTS strategy of RNTCP in 4 lakh population with establishment of four DOTS cum Microscopic Centers under its ambit.
In 2005, it was upgraded to State TB Training and Demonstration Centre with added responsibilities besides continuing to function as a referral clinic for TB and Respiratory Diseases, of training the entire staff in Delhi and to provide diagnostic services as mandated for an Intermediate Reference Laboratory, which became a Biosafety Level-3 facility in 2008.
The IRL was certified by Central TB Division for First line Line Probe Assay (LPA) and Liquid culture (LC) DST in 2013 and further got certification in Second Line LPA and SL DST in 2014. Recently the laboratory also got certification for Linezolid & Phrazinamide in 2020. A Gene sequencer was added in 2018. The laboratory got NABL accreditation in 2018.
The laboratory of NDTB Centre has been equipped with Illumina MiSeq bench top sequencer system and is being developed as one of the five Whole Genome Sequencing facilities under NTEP.
COVID 19 testing and training of microbiologists and technicians of government and private laboratories was started in 2020.
It has produced landmark research publications impacting TB control policies at the national level.
During 2021, baseline assessment of STDC Delhi was conducted by Central TB Division, The Union and third party agency, Out of 17 STDCs evaluated, throughout India, Delhi STDC was the only one accomplishing all the six major activities and having all infrastructure facilities.
Active case finding (ACF) has been a major operational research activity of our Centre. In addition to ACF in the already identified vulnerable population. This year, we also contributed ACF to homeless pavement dwellers in the Sangam Vihar and Chandini Chowk area with the help of a mobile X-ray van supported by Medanta Medicity, Gurugram.
Laboratory of the Centre has been working as BSL- III Laboratory. During the year, Central TB Division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, has sanctioned up-gradation of this Laboratory for the purpose of better diagnostic facilities under NTEP.
Intermediate Reference Laboratory of this centre which is also an ISO15189:2022 NABL accredited lab is being selected as a part of ICMR- TB diagnostics validation network. Few labs of the country are part of this network which will be involved as a resource laboratory for indigenous development of TB diagnostics.
Laboratory of this centre continuously being a favourite site for providing support for multicentric clinical trials (both national and international)/ kit validation/ validation of new diagnostic modalities, etc. These studies have been supported/ funded by CTD, ICMR, FIND, UNION, MRC – London, etc.
The Intermediate Reference Laboratory (IRL) at NDTB Centre has established and upheld a rigorous Quality Management System (QMS) in alignment with the ISO 15189:2022 standards.
Since attaining NABL accreditation in the domain of Medical Testing in 2018, the laboratory has consistently sustained its accredited status through unwavering adherence to quality and technical excellence.
Upon the implementation of the revised ISO 15189:2022 standards, the IRL at the NDTB Centre has successfully navigated the transition to the enhanced requirements and was formally granted accreditation in January 2025. This achievement marks a distinguished milestone, positioning it as the first government mycobacteriology laboratory in North India to secure accreditation under the updated ISO 15189:2022 framework.
The Centre launched the Diagnostic Management Echo TB Clinic in February 2023 as a dynamic virtual platform aimed at enhancing knowledge sharing, skill development, and problem-solving among healthcare professionals involved in TB diagnostics and management. Through regular interactive sessions, the clinic builds capacity among field staff like Laboratory Technicians and Senior Tuberculosis Laboratory Supervisors by providing practical training, sharing best practices, and addressing real-time challenges.
The IRL at this Centre was selected in 2024 to be part of the esteemed ICMR-TB Diagnostics Validation Network. This exclusive network comprises a limited number of laboratories nationwide and functions as a critical resource platform for the evaluation and validation of indigenously developed tuberculosis diagnostic kits.