Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE), in association with Manipur TB Cell has been taking up active case finding (ACF) campaigns of tuberculosis (TB) among socially vulnerable groups as a pilot initiative in the state since January 12, 2023.
TB is considered as the deadliest infectious disease in the world with over a million deaths reported every year. Claiming more lives than HIV/AIDS, and one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide, more than 4,000 people lose their lives to TB, and as many as 30,000 people develop the disease.
As part of the month-long campaign, the ACF was conducted at Makers Foundation Ipa Ibungo Drug De Addiction & Rehabilitation Centre, Thangmeiband, on Tuesday. The campaigns are being done with an aim to help reduce diagnosis and treatment delays and prevent the spread of tuberculosis thereby contributing to the government’s effort to eliminate TB by 2025.
Speaking as a resource person during the awareness session, state TB officer Dr W Shashi Singh, said that in order to achieve the ambitious target of the Indian government to eliminate TB by 2025, the TB prevalence rate in the state has to be reduced by 15 per cent every year as against the 2.5 per cent recorded from 2015 to 2020.
He further informed that 40 per cent of people are already infected by TB in India and considering the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National TB Elimination programme (NTEP) which aims to strategically reduce TB burden by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Dr Shashi added that the government of India had targeted to reduce the TB prevalence rate to 80 per cent by 2025 with 2015 as base year, the STO stated that the prevalence rate of TB in India in 2015 was 244 per lakh population but was recorded at 164 per lakh population in the case of Manipur. The reduction rate of the prevalence of TB which has been recorded at 2.5 per cent per year needs to be pushed up to 25 per cent per year if at all the elimination target of TB is to be achieved by 2025, he added.
He also expressed gratitude to CoNE for collaborating with state TB Cell in conducting ACF among vulnerable groups.
Altogether 27, inmates of Foundation Ipa Ibungo Drug De Addiction Centre, were screened for TB. Those found TB positive will be initiated treatment after conducting necessary baseline investigations under the national programme.
