Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar chaired the brainstorming session on Strategies for Ending TB by 2025.

Dr Pawar said, “We have a mere 37 months before the deadline to end TB in the country. We need to shift gears and come up with innovative solutions to make up for the setbacks due to COVID-19 and move beyond.” 

The session focused on five pillars including improving case detection, improving treatment adherence, evolving ways to converge with other social welfare programmes, utilising and refining private sector engagement and finally integration of National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) within our health system for accelerating TB eradication in the country. 

Highlighting the Union Government’s efforts for TB eradication, she added: “TB has now been made an essential part of Comprehensive Primary Health Care and is integrated with Ayushman Bharat scheme. Our aim is to detect cases early and prevent the emergence of new cases of TB by expanding TB care through engagement of various stakeholders, including the community.

Dr Pawar said, “TB preventive treatment has been prioritised under the pillar of 'Prevent' in the National Strategic Plan to end TB. Scaling up TB Preventive Treatment and at the same time decentralising it to bring services closer to patients, are of utmost importance to break the chain of transmission and breakdown of those with TB infection into full-blown TB disease.”