Intensified 100-day TB elimination programme launched in Tiruchi district

100-day campaign to raise TB awareness and diagnose launched in Tiruchi, part of nationwide initiative to end tuberculosis.

The 100-day campaign to raise awareness and diagnose tuberculosis (TB) was launched in Tiruchi and other central districts in keeping with the ‘Ni-kshay Shivir’ nationwide initiative on Saturday. The drive, conducted by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, targets 347 districts throughout India as part of the ‘TB Mukt Bharat’ programme to end tuberculosis. It is scheduled to end on March 17, 2025.

As part of the campaign, a mobile diagnostic van was flagged off at the Woraiyur Urban Primary Health Centre in Tiruchi by Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru in the presence of Tiruchi District Collector M. Pradeep Kumar, Mayor M. Anbazhagan, Corporation Commissioner V. Saravanan, Deputy Director of Health Services V.C. Hemachand Gandhi, Deputy Director Medical Services – TB S. Savithri, and senior officials.

The initiative is aimed at diagnosing TB earlier, reducing the deaths caused by the disease and prevention of new infections.

According to an official statement, the van will be visiting 14 Taluks of Tiruchi district and five Corporation blocks for the next 100 days. “Health workers will conduct tests on those who show signs of TB symptoms such as cough, fever, weight loss, night sweats, chest pain, recent dyspnea (shortness of breath) in the last six months, fatigue or any contact history with TB patients,” Dr. Savithri told The Hindu.

Samples will be tested through nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) and X-ray.

Sanitation workers and members of the general public took a pledge to eradicate TB at the gathering.