Jharsuguda: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, recently conducted a series of awareness drives on tuberculosis (TB), reaching out to over 3,500 residents across 13 villages in Jharsuguda.
Organised in observance of World Tuberculosis Day under the theme ‘Yes, we can end TB’, the company’s Mobile Health Units (MHUs) conducted informative sessions on TB, such as causative pathogens, testing, medication and treatment, diet plans and government facilities available to those affected.
Information, education and communication (IEC) materials was also distributed as a ready reckoner for local communities on the disease and its treatment.
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for a ‘TB Mukt Bharat’, Vedanta has pledged its support towards the Ni-kshay Mitra programme in Jharsuguda.
The Ni-kshay Mitra programme is an Indian government initiative to eliminate TB from the country by 2025.
“Through this week-long programme, we aim to maximise community awareness and dispel the stigma associated with tuberculosis. Community health is an important pillar of our social endeavours, and we have deployed initiatives such as Mobile Health Units for door-to-door service, health camps, and an upcoming Pathology Lab & Diagnostic Centre, to help improve the quality of life in the region. Beyond health, we are also working in the areas of sustainable livelihood, quality education, skill development, women’s empowerment and community infrastructure, to bring about socio-economic transformation in the lives of local communities,” said Sunil Gupta, CEO Vedanta Jharsuguda.
Bhujraj Patel, who attended the awareness programme in Jharsuguda, thanked the company for the session.
“We had always assumed that TB was an incurable disease, with the treatment being prohibitively expensive. Through the awareness program, we got to learn that timely intervention and proper care can help cure this disease completely. I thank Vedanta for conducting the program in our village,” said Patel.
