More than 3 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) were provided with tuberculosis (TB) preventive therapy in 2019, and HIV testing for all notified TB patients increased to 81% in 2019 from 67% in 2018, noted that annual TB Report-2020 released by the Health Ministry on Wednesday.
It added that India also saw a reduction in the number of missing and undiagnosed cases to 2.9 lakh cases as against more than 10 lakh in 2017, and increase in private sector notifications by 35% with 6.78 lakh TB patients notified. Missing and undiagnosed cases can include women and children, the poor and malnourished, refugees, migrants, miners, ethnic minorities, homeless, and substance users.
Over 24 lakh TB patients were notified in 2019, which is a more than 10% rise over 2018, said the report.
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Proportion of children
Speaking on the occasion, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the report highlights the fact that due to easy availability of molecular diagnostics, the proportion of children diagnosed with TB increased to 8% in 2019 compared with 6% in 2018, and the provision of HIV testing for all notified TB patients increased from 67% in 2018 to 81% in 2019.
“Expansion of treatment services has resulted in a 12% improvement in the treatment success rate of notified patients. For 2019, it is 81%, compared with 69% in 2018 and more than 4.5 lakh DOT (Directly Observed Treatment Short-course) centres provide treatment covering almost every village across the country. We now need to come together to fight against TB and the stigma surrounding it,’’ added the Minister.
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Eliminate by 2025
The Ministry in its release added that it is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of eliminating TB in the country by 2025, five years ahead of the global target.
“To align with the ambitious goal, the programme has been renamed from Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) to National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP). This has expanded both the laboratory network as well as diagnostic facilities to cover the entire country. To End TB by 2025, expansion of TB services and addressing determinants of TB that are beyond health, through a multi-sectoral approach is necessary. All these efforts are yielding significant results,” it added.
Quarterly ranking
Meanwhile, in 2020, the Central TB Division (CTD) introduced a quarterly ranking on TB elimination efforts by all the States and UTs. In the category of larger States with more than 50 lakh population, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh were awarded as best performing States. In the category of smaller States with less than 50 lakh population, Tripura and Nagaland were awarded. In the category of Union Territories, Dadara and Nagar Haveli, and Daman & Diu were chosen as the best performers.
The report release also saw unveiling of a Joint Monitoring Mission (JMM) report, a manual on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to TB patients under NIKSHAY system, a training module, and the quarterly newsletter NIKSHAY Patrika