India need total awareness to eradicate TB, says health expert

As India has vouched to eradicate Tuberculosis (TB) from the country in the next five years, a staggering statistics has revealed that 2.69 million (WHO report) people in the country are suffering from the deadly disease. Experts in India's health sector have said that negligence and lack of awareness have further worsened the situation.

New Delhi:As India has vouched to eradicate Tuberculosis (TB) from the country in the next five years, a staggering statistics has revealed that 2.69 million (WHO report) people in the country are suffering from the deadly disease.

This statistics, ironically, figure India as the world leader in TB cases, which amounts to 27 per cent of the global patients.

Experts in India's health sector have said that negligence and lack of awareness have further worsened the situation.

"We have Primary Health Centres(PHC) for TB treatment but there is a huge lack of awareness because of which this problem has posed a severe threat," said Dr DR Rai, Dean, IMA Academy of Paramedical Sciences.

He further said, "Though people living in slums are vulnerable of TB, Tuberculosis is of different types including bone TB, lung TB etc."

Reports suggest that there are more than 850,000 cases of TB each year in India that are either undetected and untreated or diagnosed and treated by private healthcare providers with potentially substandard drugs and treatment regimens.

According to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) data, 2.79 million people were affected by TB in 2016 and 435,000 people died from it. USAID has been working in India's health sector for the last several years.

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Interestingly, India TB Report 2019 as released by the Union Health Ministry has said that the reporting of the disease has increased by 16 per cent from 2017.

The report further said that TB related deaths have declined in India by 82 per cent in 2018, as compared to the mortality registered in 2010.

Of late, the disease has also been notified by the health ministry.

"Government programme is satisfactorily improving. However inspite of having awareness programme, people hesitate to take medicine," said Dr Sandeep, an Indian Medical Association (IMA) member.

He said that TB, after it got notified, there is a track record of the patients' health condition.

It is to be noted that India aims to eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target.

Keeping that in mind, the government in 2018 has launched the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, to provide nutritional support to TB patients.

Under the scheme, TB patients have been receiving Rs 500 per month for the entire duration of treatment.