Chandigarh, August 12 - Haryana Governor Prof. Ashim Kumar Ghosh today urged Deputy Commissioners to take concerted and outcome-oriented measures to completely eliminate tuberculosis (TB) from the state. He directed them to undertake periodic outcome audits to assess the effectiveness of interventions being implemented under the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and Ni-Kshay Mitra Initiative.

The Governor was addressing Deputy Commissioners of 13 districts through a video conference from Lok Bhavan, Chandigarh, to review the progress of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan and Ni-Kshay Mitra Initiative in the state.

Prof. Ghosh called for further strengthening preventive measures and community-based screening to facilitate early diagnosis and timely treatment of TB. He emphasized the need for full participation of government and private healthcare institutions, along with all other stakeholders, in the campaign.

He directed the Deputy Commissioners to adopt a focused approach towards high-risk villages and ensure that diagnostic facilities are taken directly to vulnerable and underserved populations. He also stressed the importance of comprehensive clinical management of TB patients who test positive, along with timely delivery of nutrition support kits to needy patients under the Ni-Kshay Mitra Initiative.

The Governor further called for optimal utilisation of technology-driven tools, including the TB Mukt Bharat App, and directed that District TB Centres be strengthened, overhauled wherever necessary and properly monitored to improve the overall effectiveness of the programme.

India fully committed to achieving TB eradication goal under PM leadership

He said that India, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi, is firmly committed to achieving the goal of TB elimination. Haryana has emerged as one of the country's top-performing states in the fight against tuberculosis and has exceeded several key targets under the National TB Elimination Programme.

Urging the Deputy Commissioners to make their best efforts towards achieving the goal of a TB-Mukt Haryana, Prof. Ghosh said that he would review the performance of these districts under the Ni-Kshay Mitra Initiative after three months.

During the meeting, all the Deputy Commissioners were urged to register themselves as Ni-Kshay Mitras and contribute towards providing nutritional support to TB-affected persons. He further appealed to them to encourage their office staff and other employees to join the initiative and contribute to this noble cause.

Mission Director, National Health Mission, Haryana, Dr. R.S. Dhillon; Secretary to the Governor, Sh Vijay Kumar Bhavikatti; Dr. Brahmdeep Singh, DHS; Dr. Rajesh Raju, State TB Officer and other officials were also present on the occasion. Deputy Commissioners from Sirsa, Mahendragarh, Sonipat, Panchkula, Hisar, Faridabad, Nuh, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Charkhi Dadri, Panipat, Gurugram and Rohtak participated through video conference.