Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan

Q. Why is this in News?

A. Recently, to speed up the country’s fight against tuberculosis (TB) and achieve the target set by the Prime Minister of eliminating the disease by 2025, President launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.

Q. What is Tuberculosis?
A. 

• About: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
  • It commonly affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body.
  • It is a treatable and curable disease.
• Transmission: TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.
• Symptoms: Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
• Vaccine: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine for TB disease.
• Statistics:
  • A total of 1.5 million people died from TB and an estimated 10 million people fell ill with tuberculosis (TB) worldwide in 2020.
  • India has the world’s highest tuberculosis (TB) burden, with an estimated 26 lakh people contracting the disease and approximately 4 lakh people dying from the disease every year.
• Challenges for India:
  • Major challenges to control TB in India include poor primary health-care infrastructure in rural areas of many states; unregulated private health care leading to widespread irrational use of first-line and second-line anti-TB drugs; poverty; lack of political will; and, above all, corrupt administration.

Q. What Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan?

A. 

• About:
  • It's an initiative of Ministery of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) to accelerate the country’s progress towards TB elimination by 2025.
• Objectives:
  • Provide additional patient support to improve treatment outcomes of TB patients
  • Augment community involvement in meeting India’s commitment to end TB by 2025.
  • Leverage Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.
• Components:
  • Ni-kshay Mitra Initiative: It is to ensure additional diagnostic, nutritional, and vocational support to those on TB treatment.
    • Ni-kshay Mitra (Donor) are those who can support by adopting health facilities (for individual donor), blocks/urban wards/districts/states for accelerating response against TB to complement government efforts.
  • Ni-kshay Digital Portal: It will provide a platform for community support for persons with TB.

Q. What are the other related Initiatives Regarding Tuberculosis?

A. 

• Global Efforts:
  • The WHO (World Health Organisation) has launched a joint initiative “Find. Treat. All. #EndTB” with the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership.
  • WHO also releases the Global Tuberculosis Report.
• India’s Efforts:
  • India’s National TB Elimination Programme is strengthened to meet the goal of ending the TB epidemic by 2025 from the country, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030.
  • National Strategic Plan (NSP) for Tuberculosis Elimination (2017-2025), The Nikshay Ecosystem (National TB information system), Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY- financial support), TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign.
  • Currently, two vaccines VPM (Vaccine Projekt Management) 1002 and MIP (Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii) have been developed and identified for TB, and are under Phase-3 clinical trial.
  • Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana: It provides Rs 500 support through direct benefit transfer to the patients.
  • Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission: The government has also focused on utilising technology and creating digital health IDs for TB patients under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission to ensure proper diagnostics and treatment are available.