Dr. Harsh Vardhan launches Tribal TB initiative in pursuit of ‘TB Mukt Bharat’

New Delhi, March 27: In a bid to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cherished goal of a "TB Mukt Bharat", Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the “Tribal TB Initiative”. During the launch, he said that government accords top priority to ensuring Universal Access to free treatment and care for TB across the country.

 

He highlighted that India witnessed over 18.04 lakh TB notifications, notwithstanding the difficulties presented because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related regulation/preventive strategies. He pointed out, “In spite of all the unforeseen challenges of COVID 19, the Government of India was able to convert all those into opportunities for TB Elimination by introducing bidirectional screening for COVID-19 and TB, strengthening diagnostic networks, and combining TB screening in COVID surveillance activities.'

He said the government has already increased the Budget allocation for TB in India four-fold in the last five years. Dr. Vardhan also added that the Union Territories of Lakshadweep and the district of Badgam in Jammu and Kashmir have been declared TB Free on World TB Day this year.

 

 

 

According to the statement, the government has identified as many as 177 tribal districts as high priority districts where physical remoteness, malnutrition, poor living conditions, and lack of awareness contribute to the vulnerability of the tribal population to TB.

 

Initially, the activities of the joint plan will be focusing on 161 districts across 18 identified States, officials said.

Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda and Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey were present on the occasion.

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