New Delhi: The Indian government will go all out to make the country free of tuberculosis (TB) by the year 2025.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials to outline the steps undertaken by the Centre under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and the way forward.
Announcing the government’s plan to launch a Jan Andolan (mass movement) against tuberculosis involving advocacy, communication and social mobilization (ACSM).
“We wish to make 2021 the year of Tuberculosis,” Vardhan said.
He claimed that great progress has been made in ensuring all patients received “free-of-cost and high quality” TB care in the last few years, and hoped that these gains will help create greater demand for services, destigmatize the disease and help realize the goal of a TB-free India by 2025.
“While the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme continues to augment efforts to further strengthen TB management and service delivery, it is only when the wider population uses the essence of democracy and the spirit of Jan Andolan through generation of awareness, encouragement of health care seeking behaviour within their communities, and de-stigmatization of TB, would the movement against the disease be a success,” Vardhan said.
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