India is close to its TB elimination target, with TB incidence down 21% and treatment coverage reaching 92%, J.P. Nadda said.
Union health minister J.P. Nadda on Thursday said India was “very close” to achieving its tuberculosis (TB) elimination goal as he launched the Joint Squad for Health (JOSH) initiative, which will mobilise more than 58,000 youth volunteers to strengthen the fight against the disease at the grassroots level.
Speaking at the launch at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Nadda said TB incidence in India had declined by 21 per cent, compared with a global decline of 12 per cent. Treatment coverage in the country had reached 92 per cent, against the global average of 78 per cent, he said.
“We have reached very close to the target. We need to give the last push,” the minister said, calling for greater public participation to achieve the TB-free India goal.
The JOSH initiative will bring together MY Bharat volunteers and National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets to strengthen community mobilisation, screening, early diagnosis and treatment.
Nadda said the government had already involved MPs, MLAs, mayors and councillors in the campaign through workshops and other programmes. However, eliminating TB would require sustained participation from volunteers and grassroots workers, he added.
“We do not want to confine this campaign within any boundaries. We want to break those boundaries and move forward,” he said.
The minister said the campaign would go beyond awareness and preventive measures to focus on active case finding, identifying asymptomatic patients, early diagnosis and ensuring treatment.
He urged JOSH volunteers to coordinate with Nikshay volunteers, Nikshay activists and Nikshay Mitras to ensure that TB patients received medicines and nutritional support.
Nadda said coordinated efforts by the government, healthcare workers, volunteers and communities were essential to give the TB elimination campaign its final push.
