India witnesses reduction in tuberculosis cases by 16 per cent since 2015: Health Minister

India saw 16 per cent reduction in incidence of tuberculosis compared to 87 per cent globally said Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh MandaviyaThe number of missing TB cases in India also reduced from 1 million in 2015 to 026 million in 2023 said Mandviya while addressing 37th STOP TB Partnership Board Meeting held last weekThe Stop TB Partnership is hosted by UNOPS and is a collective force transforming the fight against TBThis comes as India is committed towards ending TB by 2025 five years ahead of the global target of 2030TB has been a global health problem for decades now After two challenging years dominated by disruptions caused by the Covid19 pandemic globally we saw a reduction in TB incidence by 87 per cent while in India we were able to demonstrate a reduction of 16 per cent almost double the pace the minister said in statement released on ThursdayWith less than 2 years left for Indiarsquos target of 2025 our approach going forward is focusing on prevention while we saturate coverage of services in the detection and treatment of TB With our continuous efforts the number of missing TB cases in India has reduced from 1 million in 2015 to 026 million in 2023 he addedFurther the Union Health Minister said that under the G20 Presidency India diligently advocated and addressed selected concerns of global importance which included improving the effectiveness and reach of health services using digital solutions strengthening cooperation to enhance pharmaceutical development and manufacturing capabilities and focusing on One Health and AntiMicrobial Resistance ndash all of these having strong resonance with Indias and the worlds fight against TBWith a focused and targeted engagement with the private sector through various interventions there has been an increase in private sector notification by more than 8 times over the past 9 years Mandaviya saidIn 2023 084 million patients were notified from the private sector which contributed to 33 per cent highest ever of total notifications he added crediting Indias success in encouraging peoples participation in the EndTB movementOur approach of Jan Bhagidhari which means peoples participation has shown how the community can help join our fight against TB The Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan the worlds largest crowdsourcing initiative has been a huge success with over 150000 Nikshay Mitra coming forward in a Whole of Society Approach to adopt over 1 million TB patients to provide them nutritional and other support they needThe Union Minister also highlighted the launch of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra an outreach activity of the government where TB was among the most important health indicators with more than 38 million individuals screened for TB and had over 1 million referrals for TB testingHe noted other initiatives and achievements like the launch of the TB Mukt Panchayat initiative securing of over 5 million courses of TB preventive treatment drug 3HP and provision of TB services at the community level in over 16 lakh Ayushman Arogya MandirsMandaviya urged the dignitaries to leverage their nations collective knowledge and expertise in creating large scale preventive interventions including addressing social determinants and called upon them to urgently come forward to launch TB vaccination to reach the sustainable development goals targets for TBThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever