Chandigarh admn launches 100-day campaign to end tuberculosis

In a significant step towards making the city tuberculosis (TB)-free, UT adviser Rajeev Verma launched a 100-day intensified TB case-finding campaign under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme.
The initiative takes a comprehensive approach that includes sensitisation, organising camps, ensuring adherence to treatment, and reducing stigma associated with the disease.
Verma emphasised that collaboration among all stakeholders will drive a dedicated campaign across every sector of Chandigarh.
Under this campaign, special efforts will focus on screening vulnerable populations, including individuals aged over 60, smokers, diabetics, alcoholics, past TB patients and their close contacts, malnourished individuals, and those living in congregate settings, such as prisons, old age homes, orphanages, and shelters.
Stakeholders will work to raise awareness about the disease within their communities, assisting the health department in identifying affected individuals for early diagnosis and treatment. Efforts will also focus on reducing the stigma associated with TB to encourage more people to seek timely medical intervention.
Rajeev Verma highlighted that the campaign will involve active participation in camps, workshops, awareness drives, and educational programs in schools and colleges to disseminate information about TB’s causes, symptoms, and treatment facilities. A special emphasis will be placed on dispelling myths and misconceptions about the disease.
As part of the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, Verma issued a clarion call to the people of Chandigarh to come forward and support TB patients and their families, aiding the government in achieving its target of eliminating the disease.