State to be TB-free by 2022: Kaul

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 24

The state will be made TB (tuberculosis)-free by 2021-22 against the national target of 2025 and the Mukhyamantri TB eradication scheme announced in the Budget by the Chief Minister will be implemented from 2017-18.

“The government has taken speedy measures to control TB and funds for this purpose have been enhanced in the next year’s budget,” said Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, who flagged off an awareness rally on the occasion of “World TB Day” at the IGMC here. Thirtythree representatives of 21 countries took part in the rally.

Elaborate arrangements were in place for detection of the disease and GeneXpert rapid TB test machines had been provided in nine out of 12 districts and efforts were afoot to cover the remaining three districts and also provided such machines at lower level to facilitate people, he said. Stressing that detection of the disease was necessary for counselling of patients to convince them that the disease can be cured with regular medication, Kaul Singh said Hamirpur district was included under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) in 1997 and later it was extended to the entire state in 2012.

There are 72 TB units in 74 Health Blocks and 200 diagnostic Microscopic centres in the state and about 2 lakh TB patients have been cured since 1997.

He claimed that the health indicators in Himachal were better than that at national level and IMR(Infant Mortality Rate) was 28 as against 37 at the national level.