Centre identifies 75 tribal districts for focused TB interventions

Tags: National National News

Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TB Division of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare organised a National Conference to publicise the features of 100 Day Assurance Campaign under 'Tribal TB Initiative' on 24th August at National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI), New Delhi.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• On the occasion of 75 years of India's independence, 75 overburdened tribal districts have been selected to focus on TV in the coming months.

Three tier strategy for 75 districts :

1. Creating demand for TB services through community mobilisation, increasing awareness of TB symptoms, prevalence and treatment procedures, and continuing engagement with community influencers involved in the recovery process.

2. Improving the delivery of TB services by provision of customised solutions by leveraging PIPs and other sources of funding to bridge implementation gaps by augmenting TB testing and diagnostics infrastructure.

3. Reducing the risk of spreading the disease through active case detection campaigns.

Tribal TB Initiative :

• It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Central TB Division of the Ministry of Health, supported by USAID as a technical partner and by Piramal Health as an implementation partner.

• Through this initiative, the Assurance Campaign was launched on 7 January 2022 to detect active cases of TB in 174 tribal districts of India.

• The initiative was flagged off in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra.

• Under this, door-to-door screening of TB was done in 68,019 villages.

• Based on oral test of 1,03,07,200 persons during the campaign, 3,82,811 people were identified as having TB.

• Of these, 2,79,329 (73 per cent) samples were tested for TB and 9,971 people tested positive for TB.

• All of them were treated as per the protocol of the Government of India.

What is Tuberculosis (TB) ?

• It is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

• The bacteria generally attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body, such as the kidneys, spine, and brain.

• Tuberculosis infections began increasing in 1985 because of the emergence of HIV.

• HIV weakens a person's immune system, so it can't fight the TB germs.

Transmission :

• Its bacteria spread from person to person through the air.

• When people with pulmonary (Lung) TB cough, sneeze or spit, they spread TB germs into the air.

Symptoms of TB :

• cough for three or more weeks

• coughing up bloody sputum

• Chest pain, pain with breathing and coughing

• weight loss, Fatigue, Fever and Night sweats etc.

Government Initiatives to Combat TB :

• National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Tuberculosis (TB) Elimination (2017-2025)

• Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY- financial support)

• TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign

• Universal Immunisation Programme

• The government of India aims to have a TB-free India by 2025.

• Revised National TB Control Program under National Health Mission

• Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 under United Nations SDG target 3.3.

• Every year World TB Day is celebrated on 24 March.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION -

TB Burden :

• Every year one crore people fall ill with TB and 1.5 million people die from TB every year.

• About half of all people with TB are found in eight countries – Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Africa.

• It is one of the top 10 leading causes of death worldwide.

• India accounts for 30 percent of the world's TB cases, the highest in the world, followed by Indonesia and China.