New Delhi: Indian Oil has committed to support the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) in India by providing an enabling environment through integrated and prioritized intervention with City Coordination Committees, District Health Societies, Technical support groups, etc., in each of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh and 23 districts in Punjab. The program’s key objective will be to screen and test the entire population of UP and Punjab every year for the next three years. Once patients are notified, their treatment will continue as per the protocol of the National TB Elimination Program.
In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a clarion call to end TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 2030. The Government of India provisions a good amount of budget annually for the TB programme. However, considering its enormity, the efforts of the government need to be supplemented by augmenting the existing resources, service delivery mechanism and infrastructure for identification of numerous missing TB patients every year, said Indian Oil in a statement.
TB elimination is a national duty, and therefore additional efforts are needed to identify the TB patients for treatment. Almost the whole population needs to be reached every year for symptom screening and testing of over one crore symptomatic patients is needed in the next 3.5 years, so that complete coverage for early diagnosis can be made to cut the chain of transmission, added the firm.
To fulfill the Prime Minister’s vision, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is joining the ‘Jan Andolan’ of ‘TB Mukt Bharat.’ Indian Oil, as a conscious corporate citizen, having a sizable presence in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab has decided to play a vital role in connecting the dots of demand aggregation, supply-side strengthening, and enabling the environment.
Uttar Pradesh is the state with the largest population in India, accounting for about 20 per cent of the population of the country. In 2020, Uttar Pradesh, with a population of over 23.4 crores, had the highest share of tuberculosis notifications in India – over 20 per cent. At the same time, it contributes to almost one-fourth of estimated missing cases in the country. Punjab caters to a large number of migrant labourers from many states and ensuring cascade of care to TB patients among migrants is a challenge. /BI/
