PRADHAN MANTRI TB MUKT BHARAT ABHIYAAN

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The President of India Droupadi Murmu virtually launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Objectives of The Initiative:
- Provide additional patient support to improve treatment outcomes of TB patients.
- Augment community involvement in meeting India’s commitment to end TB by 2025.
- Leverage Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
The initiative will provide the following support system:
- Nutritional support.
- Additional investigations for the diagnosed TB patients.
- Vocational support.
- Additional nutritional supplements
On this occasion, the President highlighted that it is the duty of all citizens to give high priority to the anti-tuberculosis campaign and make it a mass movement.

Details

In India, Tuberculosis results in the largest number of deaths among all other infectious diseases.
India has more than 25% of the total TB patients in the world.
India has the world’s highest tuberculosis (TB) burden, with an estimated 26 lakh people contracting the disease and approximately 4 lakh people dying from the disease every year.
The economic burden of TB in terms of loss of lives, income and workdays is also substantial.
Most of the TB-affected people came from poor sections of society.
All nations have set the goal of eradicating TB by the year 2030, according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but the Indian Government has set the target of eradicating TB by the year 2025.
The Indian Government has initiated many awareness campaigns against TB.
- The government also provides free-of-cost facilities for the prevention and treatment of this disease.
To keep a track of TB patients across the country, the Government of India has introduced a system called NIKSHAY.
- NIKSHAY (www.nikshay.gov.in) is a web-enabled application, which facilitates monitoring of universal access to TB patients' data.

The expected outcome of the initiative

It will encourage the active involvement of society in the fight against tuberculosis.
It aims at increasing awareness among the public regarding tuberculosis.
The involvement of the community in supporting the treatment will also help in the reduction of stigma.
Provision of additional support to the TB patient shall also result in the reduction of the out-of-pocket expenditure for the family of the TB patient.
It will improve the nutrition of the TB patient and result in better treatment outcomes.

About Tuberculosis (TB)

TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and it most often affects the lungs.
- TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain.
About half of all people with TB can be found in 8 countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and South Africa.
Every year, nearly 10 million people fall ill with TB. Despite being a preventable and curable disease, 1.5 million people die from TB each year – making it the world’s top infectious killer.
TB is the leading cause of death of people with HIV and is also a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance.