Government to ensure six months of advance stock for TB medicines: J P Nadda

New Delhi: Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Saturday told the states that the Health Ministry was making arrangements to provide six months of TB medicines to Karnataka in advance, while seeking support for the government’s 100-day special campaign on tuberculosis (TB) in 347 districts.

Nadda told the Chief Ministers and Health Ministers that the states were having two months of stocks at the moment and work was on to ensure advance stock of at least six months for TB medicines.

The minister’s assurance came amidst persisting complaints from the states on the shortage of TB medicines.

States like Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Karnataka have been complaining about poor supply of TB medicines for nearly a year.

The campaign identified 22,178 new TB patients in the first ten days after screening 53 lakh vulnerable individuals and testing 2.21 of them. It involves more screening camps for TB for identifying the patients so that they can be put on the treatment.

All the 31 districts of the state are part of the campaign. Other states where a large number of districts are under the special drive include Maharashtra (30), Madhya Pradesh (23) and Tamil Nadu (22).

Nadda said that the rate of decline of tuberculosis in India between 2015-2024 was 17.7 per cent - double that of the global average of 8.3 per cent - while TB deaths reduced by 21.4 per cent in the last 10 years.

However, notwithstanding such gains, India’s TB burden is still way above the milestone targets set by the Narendra Modi government to eliminate TB by 2025 – five years ahead of the UN deadline.