With a strong focus on tuberculosis eradication in India, the Narendra Modi The government plans to launch a plan to support the nutritional requirements of patients suffering from the deadly disease, News18.com has learned.
Mainly pushed by the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the plan has been tentatively named Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (PMTBMB), under which financial contributions from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private sector companies or including individuals to support dietary needs of tuberculosis patients.
Under the scheme, an individual or a corporate house, NGOs, elected representatives, political parties, institutions or others can decide to become “Nikshay Mitra”, which means “a good friend” and adopt a tuberculosis patient or patients.
Once adopted, these friends will be responsible for providing nutritional support to these TB patients and provide them with a decided list of diet plans.
The fulcrum of the scheme is based on the logic that the recovery of patients becomes slow or unattainable if they are not provided with a nutritional diet.
“The scheme aims to provide patients with nutritional support, which will eventually help India meet the country’s TB elimination deadline, five years before the global goal,” said an official quoted above.
PM Modi, in 2018, had announced that India would totally eliminate TB by 2025, five years before the global deadline set for 2030 and reiterated the same when addressing the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In New York. in 2019.
According to the World TB Report 2021, India is the largest contributor, at 24%, among the 10 countries that together account for 74% of the global gap between the estimated incidence of TB and the number of newborns. diagnosed with tuberculosis and reported.
India also appears in all three World Global lists of the Health Organization (WHO) of countries with a high burden of TB, HIV-associated TB and rifampicin-resistant or multidrug-resistant TB to be used by the WHO for the period 2021-2025.
How will the scheme work?
According to the plan, the indicative nutrition list, which includes 3.5 kg of cereals, 1 liter of cooking oil, 1.5 kg of legumes, powdered milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables, among other things, will be delivered to donors to supply to tuberculosis patients. each month.
PM Modi is likely to launch the scheme anytime between August 20-24 at a virtual event.
“The PMO has not yet set the final dates. The ministry’s suggestion on the launch day was between August 14 and 17. However, the PMO decided to launch it a week later,” a senior official from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told News18.com.
“The idea of the scheme was shared by Anandi Ben Patel, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The health minister, in turn, welcomed the idea and discussed it further with Prime Minister Modi during the review meeting.”
Out of 13.5 lakh tuberculosis patients, 9 lakh are ready for support: government data
Last month, Prime Minister Modi took part in the review meeting on the status of India’s tuberculosis elimination, a second source familiar with the development told News18.com.
“PM Modi was happy with the progress and also showed enthusiasm for the launch of the scheme. Work on the scheme has already started and registrations continue. However, it is expected to gain momentum once PM launches it,” the second official said.
According to government data, there are around 13.5 lakh TB patients in India, of which nearly nine lakh have consented to receive support from ‘Nikshay Mitras’.
The data shows that, so far, 447 people, 122 NGOs, 29 companies, 19 institutions, 18 elected representatives, 10 political parties and four cooperatives have given their consent to adopt the patient (or patients) for a year.
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