'Partnership with all stakeholders key to make India TB-free by 2025'

Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan Sunday stressed on the partnerships with all stakeholders including doctors, paramedics, frontline health workers and community partners for achieving the goal of eliminating tuberculosis from the country by 2025.

The systems of care for TB patients should be patient centric, and sympathetic to their wellbeing, she emphasised at an event to markthe World Tuberculosis (TB) Day.

Reiterating India's commitment to eliminate TB in the country by 2025, Sudan stated that India has been able to eliminate polio, yaws (skin disease) due to the sturdy health systems, especially at the primary healthcare levels.

"Partnerships with all stakeholders hold the key to making India TB-free," she said as she led the participants of the event to take apledge to unite together to contribute and support towards making India TB free by 2025, 5 years before the global target of 2030.

Various presentations made at the event highlighted the key changes introduced in the policy landscape of TB in the country.

India is now closest ever to covering all TB cases with 21.5 lakh new TB patients notified in 2018, Sudan said.

With the aim of universal access to free diagnostics and treatment services, path breaking policy changes have been introduced, she said.

Universal drug susceptibility testing has been rolled out, shorter and newer treatment regimen has been expanded countrywide. India is also moving towards an injection free regimen, Sudan said.

Private sector engagement has been elevated as one of the highest priorities with strengthened regulatory measures, collaborative incentives and scale up of successful Patient Provider Support Agency (PPSA) interventions which led to a 35% increase in TB notification from the private sector, she said.

The Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) has benefited 15 lakh TB patients for nutrition support with Rs 240 cores disbursed as DBT since April 2018, she said.

A comprehensive call centre (1800-11-6666) for information, addressing grievance, patient linkages and provider relationship has been established, the Health Secretary informed.

As on date, 15 lakh patients have been initiated in the Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) regime. TB forums at various levels in the states have been formed to remove stigma and to create awareness about the symptoms of the disease and the free treatment available at the government health facilities.

These efforts have resulted in increase from 25 to 83 per cent in the treatment success rates (2017-2018), and the TB prevalence rates have come down from 29 to 4 per cent, she added.