Mumbai: Close to a crore people were screened for tuberculosis (TB) in the last 80 days across Maharashtra, and around 30,000 of them were diagnosed with the infectious disease and started on treatment, according to state health officials.
These screenings are part of the special, national 100-day campaign to detect TB and prepare for its elimination as per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) directive. Indian authorities wanted to eliminate TB by 2025, ahead of the WHO’s 2030 deadline.
As part of the campaign, which began on Dec 7, and will end on World TB Day on March 25, thousands of camps were set up across the state’s 17 rural districts and 13 civic corporation-run areas, such as Mumbai, in the first 80 days of the campaign. The campaign’s aim is to “accelerate” TB case detection, reduce the TB death rate, and prevent new cases by stopping transmission.
“Of the 95.13 lakh people screened, 2.37 lakh were sent for chest X-ray examination,” said health officials. Of these, sputum of 1.98 lakh people was tested using rapid molecular diagnostic tests, while sputum of 1.3 lakh was tested by microscope. “In 80 days, we thus identified 29,952 TB patients diagnosed and registered on Union govt’s Nikshay Portal, a web-based system to manage country’s TB elimination programme,” said the official.
As part of the campaign, health officials have been holding sensitisation camps for practitioners of ayurveda and homeopathy as well as pharmacists and laboratory staff, said state TB officer Dr Sandip Sangle. The idea is to ensure people with symptoms such as lingering cough, evening fevers, and weight loss are directed to govt’s TB dispensaries for free detection and treatment. Health department is also coordinating with medical specialists and associations.