Srinagar, June 19: Bhupinder Kumar, Secretary of Health and Medical Education, on Monday lauded the contributions of both the Zonal Task Force and the National Task Force (NTF) in driving progress within the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP). He emphasised the need for a more strategic and outcome-oriented approach to the elimination of tuberculosis in Jammu and Kashmir.
In his speech, Kumar emphasised the significance of the active participation of communities in the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan and urged help for TB patients in the form of nutritional aid.
“The significance of treatment adherence, emphasising that improved adherence would lead to better treatment outcomes,” he stated while delivering a speech at a meeting of the Zonal Task Force (ZTF) (North Zone) that took place over the course of two days at the Government Medical College (GMC) in Srinagar.
He placed a strong focus on enhancing treatment adherence in order to get better outcomes. He offered his congratulations to the UT and Kashmir Division on their role as hosts of the event and sent his best wishes to the ZTF for a successful gathering.
The meeting of the Zonal Task Force (ZTF) for the North Zone is being held with the main intention of fostering active cooperation between medical colleges and the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP).
The purpose of the conference is to guarantee that tuberculosis patients in Kashmir have access to high-quality treatment by making use of the clinical experience and state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities that are already available.
Dr. Adfar Yaseen, the State Tuberculosis Officer (STO), told Greater Kashmir that all of the players in the fight against tuberculosis in Kashmir should work closely with the Medical Colleges to expedite the process of becoming Kashmir tuberculosis-free.
Budgam, Anantnag, and Pulwama are the three districts that have been validated as being free of tuberculosis, while Kupwara and Srinagar have been awarded the Gold grade.
across addition, the Government of India’s Sub National Certification exercise awarded the Baramulla district a Bronze grade. This activity was carried out across Jammu and Kashmir.
In the year 2022, the state of Kashmir reported a total of over 3,376 cases of tuberculosis (TB), with Srinagar ranking first with a total of 1,465 cases.
According to the report, there has been a significant reduction in the number of cases of tuberculosis in the Kashmir division compared to 2021.
In 2021, the Kashmir division reported a total of 3442 cases of tuberculosis, but in 2020, the figure was just 2840 owing to COVID-19 and fewer screenings.
In 2022, the Srinagar district reported 1465 instances of tuberculosis, which was followed by the Anantnag district with 665 cases, the Baramulla district with 599 cases, the Kupwara district with 361 cases, Pulwama with 172 cases, and the Budgam district with 114 cases. In all, there were 3376 cases of tuberculosis recorded in 2022.
Under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukht Bharat Abhiyan (PMTBMBA), the Indian government has said in the past that they are completely dedicated to achieving the ambitious aim of eliminating tuberculosis by the year 2025, which is five years earlier than the national target of 2030.
