Maharashtra recently reported 24,287 new tuberculosis (TB) cases as part of the ongoing 100-day campaign under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP). The campaign, which began on December 7, is going on across 347 districts in the country.
The campaign is being carried out across 17 rural districts and 13 municipal corporations in Maharashtra. The state health department has screened over 81 lakh people for TB in the past two months. The new TB cases have been reported in the Nikshay portal developed by the Centre to assist in controlling and monitoring TB patients. In 2024, Maharashtra had reported 2,24,000 TB cases.
Talking to The Indian Express, Dr Sandeep Sangle, Joint Director of Health (TB) in Maharashtra, said, “The main aim is to enhance TB detection, improve the efficiency of TB testing and treatment, reduce the mortality rate, and prevent new cases through targeted interventions in the districts.”
According to Dr Sangle, 1,87,000 people were tested using chest X-ray examinations, while the sputum (a mixture of saliva and mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract) of more than 1,50,000 suspected TB cases was analysed through Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAAT), which detects genetic material. He said microscopic examinations were conducted on another 1,09,000 suspected TB cases.
As part of the campaign, over the past two months, more than 8,000 new cases were identified in Mumbai, followed by 1,148 cases in Thane and 1,012 cases in Nagpur municipal corporation areas.
Health officials successfully diagnosed over 500 patients in both the Nanded Waghala and Solapur municipal corporation areas. In the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation, officials identified 480 new TB patients. Additionally, the municipal corporations of Ahilyanagar, Amravati, Dhule, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Malegaon, and Ulhasnagar are also participating in the 100-day campaign.
Rural districts participating in the 100-day campaign include Ahilyanagar, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Kolhapur, Latur, Nanded, Nandurbar, Nashik, Parbhani, Raigad, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Washim, and Yavatmal.
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During this campaign, those diagnosed with TB are immediately started on treatment, and efforts are underway to ensure they receive the benefits of Nikshay Poshan Yojana, the Government of India scheme for incentives for nutritional support to TB patients. According to Dr Sangle, over 42,446 TB patients have benefitted from the programme.
Additionally, Nikshay Mitra volunteers are being encouraged to provide dry food baskets to support the nutrition of these patients. In the last two months, more than 12,340 food baskets have been distributed, he said.
Dr Sangle added that they conducted programmes to sensitise various medical organisations, including the Indian Medical Association, Indian Academy of Pediatrics, and the Indian Chest Society, on TB prevention and management.