The Meghalaya government, which has adopted a ‘jan andolan’ (people’s movement) against Tuberculosis received an award for best practices in controlling the disease that affects 2.6 million people in India every year.
The award for Best Practice in Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation in Tuberculosis control was presented to representatives of the health department at a national workshop, aimed at ending TB infections, in the national capital.
Despite the pandemic impacting service delivery and TB notifications, innovative mitigation strategies were deployed to ensure that notifications were back to pre-pandemic levels, State TB Officer M Mawrie told PTI.
The state registered 4,189 TB cases in 2021 while in the first quarter of 2022, around 1,075 patients have been enrolled for treatment, the officer said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had put a national target to eliminate the disease that affects over 26 lakh Indians each year by 2025, five years ahead of WHO’s Sustainable Development Goals, the officer said.
A National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination (2017-25) has also been launched reorienting the programme’s focus to ensure greater community engagement.