UP CM launches special campaign to identify people suffering from TB

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday launched a special 10-day campaign to identify people suffering from tuberculosis (TB) in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to make India TB-free by 2025 and Uttar Pradesh will contribute its best towards this objective, the chief minister said at the launch of the campaign that will cover 29 districts of the state.

Besides social participation, to achieve this, availability of proper health services and coordination between departments will be ensured, he said.

Under the door-to-door campaign, which will end on November 11, health workers will reach out to 81 lakh people, identify those suffering from TB, screen them and help them avail treatment at no cost.

Chief Minister Adityanath called upon public representatives to actively participate in the campaign. He also released a fact-sheet during the launch.

Stressing that "child health protection" should be made a mass movement, he said the dream of a "golden" Uttar Pradesh cannot be realised until childhood is healthy and safe.

"The infant mortality rate of the state has come down but it is still a big challenge for us to bring it below the national average," Adityanath said.

The chief minister also inaugurated a special vaccination campaign for children and pregnant women left out due to the COVID-19 situation.

He also distributed "golden cards" to beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

The state government is committed to protect women and children in every way and necessary vaccination for children and pregnant women will be completed through this campaign that will continue till January 2021, the chief minister said.

He also inaugurated the Culture and Drug and Susceptibility Testing (DST) lab of the Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement issued here.