Varanasi: Tuberculosis will lose and India will win, the world will win, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, adding that while the global target to end TB is 2030, India is working on eliminating it five years earlier by 2025 itself.
Inaugurating the One World TV Summit 2023 in Varanasi today, Prime Minister Modi said that today’s new India is known for achieving its goals and has taken this pledge to eliminate TB from the country.
He also launched TB Preventive Treatment (TPT), TB Free Panchayat Initiative, Family Centered Care Model for TB and India’s Annual TB Report 2023 during the event. He also virtually laid the foundation stone of BSL Lab Metropolitan Public Health Surveillance Unit in Varanasi.
The PM made a special mention of India’s global role in the fight against TB. He said that the efforts made by India after 2014 should be known to the whole world today because it is a new model in the global fight against TB.
“We had called upon the people of the country to make Nikshay Mitras to join the TB-free India campaign. After this campaign, about 10 lakh TB patients were adopted by the common citizens of the country. Children aged 10-12 years are also taking forward the fight against TB by becoming Nikshay Mitra. Many children have broken their piggy banks and adopted TB patients. This financial support of Nikshay Mitras for TB patients has reached above Rs 1000 crore,” he said.
A total of 75 lakh TB patients have benefitted from the direct bank transfer (DBT) of Rs 2000 crore sent to their accounts since the scheme was announced by the Central Government in 2018, he added.
“For the screening of patients and their treatment, we have linked them with the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The number of labs across the country has been increased for free TB testing. Today the TB-free Panchayat has started where all the elected public representatives of villages will together take a resolution that every patient in the village will be kept healthy,” he said.
The PM also appealed to the people to create awareness of TB patients as many tended to hide this disease from the public.
“Our campaign against TB will be successful only with Sabka Prayas (everyone’s efforts). I believe, our efforts today will strengthen the foundation of our secure future, and we will be in a position to hand over a better world to our future generations,” the PM concluded.
Agencies

KR Desk