‘TB-Mukt India’ Campaign

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The President of India virtually launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. 

• The President said that it is the duty of all citizens to give high priority to ‘Pradhan Mantri TB-Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan’ and to make this campaign a mass movement. 
• It is because TB causes the largest number of deaths among all other infectious diseases in our country. 
• India has a little less than 20 percent of the world’s population, but has more than 25 percent of the total TB patients of the world. 
• Most of the people affected by TB come from the poor section of society.
• Every day 1,200 Indians die of TB — 10 every three minutes.
• According to Health Ministry data, only 63% of the patients infected with the airborne disease are currently under treatment.
• Further, 1,47,000 patients are resistant to first- and second-line TB medicines.

TB Eradication 

• According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, all nations have set the goal of eradicating TB by the year 2030. 
• But the Government of India has set the target of eradicating TB by the year 2025 and efforts are being made at every level to fulfill this resolution.
• At the current rate of progress, global targets to eliminate TB by 2030 will be missed by a 150 years.

What is Tuberculosis (TB)?

• Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious airborne bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 
• It most commonly affects the lungs but can also damage other parts of the body.

Types of TB-related Conditions:

• Latent TB: The bacteria remain in the body in an inactive state. They cause no symptoms and are not contagious, but they can become active; 
• Active TB: The bacteria do cause symptoms and can be transmitted to others; 
• Multi Drug resistant (MDR) TB: It is caused by an organism that is resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampin, the two most potent first line TB drugs. These drugs are used to treat all persons with TB disease; 
• Extensively drug-resistant TB: It is resistant to both first- and second-line drugs due to drug misuse and mismanagement. It is a more serious condition than MDR TB. 
• Its symptoms usually include a cough (sometimes blood-tinged), weight loss, night sweats and fever. 
• Patients with active symptoms require a long course of treatment involving multiple antibiotics.

What steps have been taken for combating TB?

• National Strategic Plan for TB elimination (2017-25): It plans to provide incentives to private providers for following the standard protocols for diagnosis and treatment as well as for notifying the government of cases. Further, patients referred to the government will receive a cash transfer to compensate them for the direct and indirect costs of undergoing treatment and as an incentive to complete treatment.
• Nikshay: It is an online tuberculosis reporting system for medical practitioners and clinical establishments that aims to increase the reporting of tuberculosis, especially from the private sector.
• TB-free India Campaign: It was launched to take the activities under the National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination forward in a mission mode for ending the epidemic by 2025.
• Currently, two vaccines VPM (Vakzine Projekt Management) 1002 and MIP (Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii) have been developed and identified for TB, and are under Phase-3 clinical trial.
• Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is presently the sole vaccine available for the prevention of Tuberculosis (TB). However, its efficacy is very less in countries on or near the equator like India, Kenya and Malawi, where the burden of TB is higher.

How to eradicate TB from the society?

• Spread Awareness about the Results from Treatment
• People have to be informed that prevention of this disease is possible.
• Its treatment is effective and accessible.
• The government provides free-of-cost facilities for prevention and treatment of this disease
• Eradicate the Stigma attached with the Disease
• Equipping the patients with vocational skills to help them join the workforce and live a prosperous and productive life.
• The governments, pharma / biotech companies, and foundations must increase investment in TB research, at least to the levels laid out in the UN High Level Meeting Report and make TB a central element in global pandemic response strategies.
• Include Private Sector in this fight.
• The private sector has a very crucial role to play in checking the rise of TB as it is the first place a patient from an urban area visits. We need to make them a partner in this fight.

Advances in TB diagnostics, treatments and prevention need to be pursued and scaled up with the urgency they deserve. If we do not behave like TB is a global health emergency, we will continue to experience unacceptable suffering from a disease that has killed more than 20 million people in this century alone.