New Delhi: Over 10.3 lakh tuberculosis cases and 44,800 deaths due to the disease were reported between January and May this year, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday (August 1). Of the total 44,800 deaths logged in Ni-kshay portal, 3,323 (7.4 per cent) fatalities were reported among drug-resistant TB patients till May 2023, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply to a question.
She said of the 10,38,878 cases, 7,91,471 were cases of pulmonary TB and 2,47,407 of extra-pulmonary TB. In 2022, 24,02,024 cases of tuberculosis and 1,06,392 fatalities were recorded. Of the 1,06,392 deaths reported in Ni-kshay portal, 8,208 (7.7 per cent) were deaths among the drug-resistant TB patients.
The government has implemented the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) with a goal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to TB by 2025, Minister Pawar said.
The key activities implemented under NTEP include state and district-specific strategic plan for targeted interventions in high-burden areas, provision of free drugs and diagnostics to TB patients including for drug-resistant TB, Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana for nutritional support to TB patients and active TB case-finding campaign in key vulnerable and co-morbid populations, she said.
Also Read: Prisoners In India Five Times More At Risk Of Tuberculosis: Lancet Study
Activities also include integration with Ayushman Bharat – Health and Wellness Centres to decentralise screening and treatment services closer to the community, private sector engagement including incentives for notification and management of TB cases, scale up of molecular diagnostic laboratories to sub-district levels and intensified IEC campaigns to reduce stigma, raising community awareness and improve health seeking behaviour and tracking notified TB cases through a case-based web-based portal namely Ni-kshay, the minister said.
Besides, Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (PMTBMBA) was launched by the Ministry on September 9, 2022 for community support to TB patients, with the objective to provide people with TB with additional nutritional, diagnostic and vocational support, Minister Pawar said.
The Ni-kshay 2.0 portal has been developed and made available in public domain for facilitating the community to register as Ni-kshay Mitra. Periodic reviews are done to monitor the progress of the initiative at national, state and UT levels, she said.
The availability of medicines and diagnostics has improved significantly as has the use of telemedicine and other digital technologies to ensure a continuum of care, Minister Pawar said.
A third-party assessment of delivery of healthcare services by Sub-Health Centres and Primary Health Centres before and after transformation into AB-HWCs was undertaken in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from December 2022 to January 2023, She said.
Also Read: India Has Seen A Reduction In Tuberculosis Incidences: Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
