Appreciating the efforts to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) in the state, the Assam health & family welfare department was conferred the national award for a reduction in TB cases in two districts under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) by the Union ministry of health & family welfare (MoHFW).
The award was conferred at the One World TB Summit held at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh launched by prime minister Narendra Modi.
Bongaigaon district was awarded Silver for a 40 per cent reduction in TB cases while Kokrajhar district was awarded Bronze for a 20 per cent reduction in TB cases respectively in the Sub National Certification for the year 2023.
Union minister for health & family welfare Mansukh Mandaviya, Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Union minister of state for health & family welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar, member (health), NITI Aayog, VK Paul, among others were present in the event.
Assam governor Gulab Chand Kataria attended the event through virtual mode from Raj Bhavan while Assam health minister Keshab Mahanta and other officials of the health department attended through the virtual mode from Janata Bhawan, Dispur.
Under the guidance of Hon'ble CM @himantabiswa. dangoriya, the H&FW dept. has been actively engaged in eliminating Tuberculosis and has successfully implemented Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan in the state.@CMOfficeAssam@nhm_assam
— Keshab Mahanta (@keshab_mahanta) March 24, 2023
MS Lakshmi Priya, mission director, National Health Mission Assam, Avijit Basu, joint director (TB) and state TB officer Assam along with other delegates from state WHO was present at the event at Varanasi.
Reportedly, former governor of Assam, Jagadish Mukhi had adopted 10 TB patients, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had adopted 5 TB patients and health minister Keshab Mahanta had adopted 4 TB patients as part of the Nikshay Mitra Campaign under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (PMTBMBA).
“The Assam state health department has been relentlessly working towards the elimination of TB in the state. It is noteworthy that the state had diagnosed a total of 47,926 TB patients in the year 2022 with an 88 per cent success rate”, informed the officials.
