India working to end TB by 2025, says PM

Addressing the “One World TB Summit” in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, on World TB Day, the Prime Minister said the thought and approach with which India worked against tuberculosis after 2014 is “incredible”.

Varanasi: India is working to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) by 2025, five years ahead of the global deadline of 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, as he launched a series of initiatives to eliminate the bacterial disease.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the ‘One World TB Summit’ at Rudrakash Convention Centre, in Varanasi. (PTI)

Addressing the “One World TB Summit” in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, on World TB Day, the Prime Minister said the thought and approach with which India worked against tuberculosis after 2014 is “incredible”.

“This effort of India should be known to the whole world today because this is a new model in the global fight against TB,” he said. “In nine years, India has united in this fight against TB on many fronts such as public participation, special campaigns for nutrition, new strategies for treatment, intensive use of technology and promoting good health though campaigns like Khelo India and Yoga.”

He added, “Another major resolution of India is to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025 as against the global target of 2030.”

In 2014 and 2015, all World Health Organization (WHO) member states and the United Nations adopted the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO’s End TB Strategy which has put 2030 as deadline to end TB globally.

Tuberculosis, can spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air — for example, by coughing.

Referring to the capacity and health infrastructure enhancement during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister underlined the high use of trace, test, track, treat and technology in the fight against the disease. “There is massive global potential in this local approach of India,” he added.

India’s ideology of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam” (the world is one family) is giving the modern world an integrated vision and solutions, Modi said, as he launched a series of initiatives to eliminate TB, including TB-free panchayats, pan-India rollout of a shorter TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) and a family-centric care model for tuberculosis.

“India’s image reflects in its ideology of ‘Vasudev Kutumbkam’. This old thought is giving the modern world an integrated vision and solutions,” he said.

Modi said as G20 president, India chose the theme of ‘One Family, One World, One Future’ based on such beliefs.

On the occasion, the PM also released India’s Annual TB Report for 2023. He laid the foundation stone of the National Centre for Disease Control and High Containment (BSL) Laboratory in Varanasi and unveiled the site for Metropolitan Public Health Surveillance Unit (MSU).

Around 10.6 million people across the world were diagnosed with TB in 2021, an increase of 4.5% from 2020, while 1.6 million patients died of the bacterial disease, according to the WHO’s 2022 Global TB report. With 28% cases, India was among the eight countries accounting for more than two-third (or 68.3%) of the total TB patients’ count, said the report, released in October last year.

Noting that 80% of tuberculosis medicines are made in India, the Prime Minister said, “I would like that more and more countries get the benefit of all such campaigns, innovations and modern technology of India.”

The country launched a unique campaign to fight the disease, he said. “We had called upon the people of the country to make ‘Ni-kshay Mitra’ to join the campaign of TB-free India. After the campaign, 10 lakh (1 million) TB patients have been adopted by the common citizens… In our country even 10-12 year old children are taking forward the fight against TB by becoming Ni-kshay Mitra,” Modi said. “There are many such children who broke their piggy banks and adopted TB patients. The financial support of these Ni-kshay friends for TB patients has reached above ₹1,000 crore.”

The PM further said that Indians living abroad have also become a part of this effort.

Since 2018, about ₹2,000 crore has been sent directly to the bank accounts of tuberculosis patients and about 7.5 million patients have benefited from it, he said.

“It is difficult to get new results by following the old approach. Started working on a new strategy to ensure that no TB patient is left out of treatment,” he said. “For testing TB patients, the number of labs has been increased and special plans are made for those where TB patients are more.”