Month-long TB eradication campaign begins at Budgam

Budgam, Feb 24: A meeting of the District TB Forum cum Review meeting of the District Health Society on National Tuberculosis Eradication Programme (NTEP) was conducted Thursday at Conference Hall, here.
The meeting was chaired by the Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Budgam, Dr Akramullah Tak and attended by VC DDC Budgam, Nazir Ahmad, CMO Budgam, Dr Tajamul Hussain Khan, District TB Officer, Dr Adfhar Yasien, Deputy CMO, Dr Tehmeena Bukhari, members from Civil Society, members of Forum, TB champions, District TB office staff and others.
At the outset, the ADDC lauded the role of health staff, Tuberculosis department and others concerned for playing a pivotal role in achieving more than 80 percent reduction in TB cases and getting TB free status to the district in the country.
He said that despite facing hardships during the Covid- 19 situation, the Tuberculosis teams conducted house to house screening and went to all hard to reach areas to treat TB patients with utmost care and empathy.
He said the need is to work with more dedication to get cent percent reduction in the TB cases across the district.
At the outset, the ADDC also released a documentary made by the Central TB Division of the Central Ministry of Health to create awareness on eradication of the disease.
The documentary highlighted the role of teams of District Tuberculosis Office Budgam in bringing major reduction of TB cases.
Speaking on the occasion, VC DDC Budgam, Nazir Ahmad called for playing a more effective role in bringing the cases down to ensure eradication of the disease 100 percent in the district.
On the occasion, District TB Officer, Dr Adfhar deliberated upon district level status of TB cases, activities of the TB forum and activities undertaken under NTEP in the district. She informed that the government had set a goal to eliminate TB by 2025.
She announced that a month-long TB eradication campaign shall be carried out from today which shall culminate on March- 24, celebrated as World Tuberculosis Day.
She said during the campaign, besides intensive screening, various activities shall be undertaken to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis (TB) and to step up efforts to end the chronic disease.
CMO Budgam, Tajamul Hussian emphasized that the TB Forum shall engage with concerned to ensure stigma attached to the disease is reduced and improve awareness for better results across the district.
He also said that an intensive Polio vaccination programme shall start from February-27 across the district, under which as many as 121261 children between 0-5 shall be administered anti- polio drops in the district.
CMO urged parents to take their children to the health centers and ensure their children are vaccinated to fight the polio effectively.