NEW DELHI, Nov 10: The Centre on Wednesday said that there was a need to accelerate the fight to meet the 2025 deadline to end TB in view of the setbacks suffered due to Covid-19 pandemic
“We have mere 37 months before the deadline to end TB in the country. We need to shift gears and come up with innovative solutions to make up for the setbacks due to Covid-19 and move beyond,” said Union Minister of State for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar.
She emphasised to focus on early detection and prevention of new Tuberculosis (TB) cases by expanding TB care through engagement of various stakeholders, including the community.
India aims to eliminate TB before 2025 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the commitment to end the disease five years ahead of the SDG targets.
Dr Pawar said that TB has now been made an essential part of Comprehensive Primary Health Care and is integrated with Ayushman Bharat scheme, adding that the nationwide ‘TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ has been launched in this regard. She was addressing a session on Strategies for Ending TB by 2025.
Highlighting the commitment of India towards eliminating TB, Dr Pawar said, “Despite the pandemic, we have managed to scale-up access to free rapid molecular diagnostics and treatment. Financial and nutritional support to TB patients continued unabated. Efforts made by the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme led to significant improvements in time-to-diagnosis, treatment adherence and outcomes. As proper diagnosis and prompt treatment are key to TB elimination, the programme is working towards accelerating Universal TB Care coverage and preventive services in the country.
Tuberculosis preventive treatment has been prioritised under the pillar of ‘Prevent’ in the National Strategic Plan to end TB. “Scaling up TB Preventive Treatment and at the same time decentralising it to bring services closer to patients, are of utmost importance to break the chain of transmission and breakdown of those with TB infection into full-blown TB disease,” she added.
