“When a welfare scheme is made in interest of people, its chances of success increase manifold”. This was stated by President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu as she urged citizens to work collectively towards TB elimination in spirit of Jan Bhaagidari on a war footing and launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar were present at the launch event. They reiterated India’s commitment to eliminate the high-burden infectious disease by 2025, five years ahead of the global goal of 2030. This vision was first articulated by the Prime Minister at the Delhi End TB Summit in March 2018.
The President also launched the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative to ensure additional diagnostic, nutritional, and vocational support to those on TB treatment, and encouraged elected representatives, corporates, NGOs, and individuals to come forward as donors to help the patients complete their journey towards recovery.
The Ni-kshay 2.0 portal (https://communitysupport.nikshay.in/) will facilitate in providing additional patient support to improve treatment outcome of TB patients, augmenting community involvement in meeting India’s commitment to end TB by 2025 and leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities.
The virtual launch event showcased India’s accelerated progress through the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) owing to commitment at the highest levels. At the ceremony, the President of India appreciated the tireless efforts of the healthcare workers, community leaders, and citizens for managing the COVID-19 pandemic and underlined the need to adopt a similar whole-of-society approach to eliminate TB from the country.
She said that it is the duty of all citizens to give high priority to ‘Pradhan Mantri TB-Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan’ and to make this campaign a mass movement. It is because TB causes the largest number of deaths among all other infectious diseases in our country.
She noted that India has a little less than 20 percent of the world’s population, but has more than 25 percent of the total TB patients of the world. This is a matter of concern. She also noted that most of the people affected by TB come from the poor section of society.
The President reiterated the goal of universal health coverage ensuring no one is left behind in accessing affordable quality healthcare through all levels of the health system.
