The paper substantiates and provides evidence for that it is necessary to use summarized estimates to characterize the tuberculosis endemic situation. Some individual epidemiological indices are inadequately estimated to give a correct idea of epidemiological well-being. By using his own method for deriving an integral estimates, the author has analyzed the dynamics of the tuberculosis situation in Russia in 1985 to 2003. Two turning points have been established in the dynamics of the epidemic situation: 1) improvement up to 1991 inclusive and 2) a subsequent deterioration up to 2002, thereafter the epidemic situation had tended to improve. A correlation matrix has been derived, which reflects a correlation of integral estimates with individual epidemiological indices.