New Delhi: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the One World TB Summit in Varanasi to have a TB-Mukt Bharat by 2025, the echo was well heard in far distant Una district in Himachal Pradesh. The district has been making strides in the early detection and elimination of TB for a long time. Raghav Sharma, young IAS officer, and DC of the district, has been leading the campaign from the front. No wonder, the district finds a place in Best Practices in Early Detection of TB in “India TB Report 2023" of Government of India.

District Administration and Health Department of Una, with an objective to identify TB cases early, with a CSR support, have procured a handheld battery operated x-ray machine equipped with Al function deployed for door-to-door screening of slum population.

A team composed of x-ray technician, a local ASHA and health worker was formed, and they carried out verbal screening for signs, symptoms or suggestive of TB and offered upfront chest x-ray to all eligible persons after ruling out medical contraindications, informed Sharma.

Upfront use of handheld x-ray machines in the vulnerable population gives additional yield of TB cases. Infectious cases were diagnosed early and treatment was provided on time. It helped in further prevention of the disease.

Low-dose radiation exposure (6mA) and high-resolution imaging capability of the machine increases its utility in the field. Since this X-ray machine is portable, the issue of accessibility in remote areas can be addressed in other areas of Himachal Pradesh or in similar geographies in India.

According to Sharma, the activity was carried out for a total of 20 days during which 2436 individuals have been screened using the x-ray machine and the Al identified 72 presumptive TB cases based on a lesion in x-ray image. 

All presumptive cases were offered NAAT examination which yielded 4 new TB cases. Remaining individuals with some lesion in chest X-ray (Al identified) but negative NAAT results were further evaluated by the physicians in the regional hospital of Una.

District Una, with a population of 0.5 million, has an industrial area with over 350 functional industrial units. There is a high inflow of migrants into the state who mainly reside in urban slums. Restrictive accessibility makes them vulnerable to high expenditure on medication and delays in receiving appropriate care.

Sharma further informed: “We are proud and elated that district Una features for the Best Practices in Early Detection of TB in “India TB Report 2023” issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI.

TB is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19 (above HIV/AIDS). In India 21.4 Lakh TB cases have been notified in 2021, 18 per cent higher than 2020. Looking at the data the herculean task of eradicating TB from India by 2025, five years ahead of the global agenda, can be understood.

The initiatives like Una district is definitely instrumental in accomplishing the target set by PM Narendra Modi successfully. /BI/