People must extend support to the Nikshay Mitr Abhiyan so that tuberculosis could be eliminated, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya here on Sunday.
On a two-day visit to the city, he launched the interim report of the Indian catalogue of Mycobaterium TB mutation and their association with drug resistance at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, besides a booklet on nutritional support in Tamil for the patients.
He said there were still 50,000 people who had TB but only 5% of them had consented to support the scheme. As much as 35% had not accepted it yet. “Only with your support, like in COVID, can we overcome together this hurdle to the nation’s progress,” he said.
Earlier in the day, he flagged off a bicycle rally, organised by National Health Mission, to emphasise ‘Healthy India, Fit India’ in which State Health Secretary P. SenthilKumar, dean of Omandurar Medical College R. Jayanthi, besides several Union and State health officials, doctors and students participated.
State’s efforts praised
The Minister appreciated the pregnancy anomaly screening centre and the government’s efforts to offer diagnostic tests for ante-natal mothers to prevent delivery-related complications at affordable rates at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital. He was briefed about the robotic surgery facility and interacted with patients being treated for severe sports injuries and trauma.
The State government’s effort to reduce IMR and MMR and its achievement of 94% coverage of first dose of COVID-19 vaccination and 82% of second dose were praiseworthy, he said.
Dr. Mandaviya laid the foundation stone for the Central Government Health Scheme wellness centre in Avadi virtually. The Union government had allocated over ₹2,600 crore for health for the State under the National Health Mission and ₹404 crore for medical infrastructure advancement under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission. Under the scheme, 1.58 crore families in the State were covered and 75 lakh people had availed themselves of the benefits, he said.
Though it was encouraging that 17 districts in the State were free of malaria and lymphatic filariasis had been eradicated, health officials should remain alert and eradicate malaria, chikungunia and dengue, he said. “We are committed to make the nation malaria free by 2030,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation’s drug warehouse’s “robust infra, supply chain and IT infrastructure ensures uninterrupted availability of essential and lifesaving medicines for the people of Tamil Nadu,” he tweeted after a visit to the facility.
