kolkata: State Labour department will join hands with the Health department to put a combined effort to help the Bengal government in fulfilling its goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2025 through better co-ordination between both the departments.
Labour department has a crucial role to play as it has data relating to the factories and their workers, especially those who are vulnerable. The Health Secretary has recently written to the Principal Secretary of the Labour department seeking details about various companies or factories where vulnerable groups are at risk of developing occupational lung disease, including tuberculosis (TB). Both the departments will work in tandem for better implementation of various programmes to eliminate TB.
"To carry forward the collaborative activities, it is proposed to have a consultation with the management of various companies of both public and private sector to implement workplace TB screening and prevention activities, creating awareness among workers and other social responsibilities under their CSR scheme," reads the letter.
The Labour department has been urged to share the list of registered companies in the state with contact details of the key management officials, who would help the district-level TB programme officers to initiate various activities. State technical support unit will extend all support to smoothly organise various anti TB campaigns.
According to the Health department data, about one lakh TB patients are notified and put on treatment every year in the state. TB is the 13th leading cause of death worldwide and the second leading infectious killer after Covid-19. Every year, about 10 million people get affected with TB globally and around 4,000 of them die every year, say state government data. It also reveals that in India for every 2.8 TB cases prevalent in the community one case gets notified and 1.8 cases get missed. Pulmonary TB is the most infectious type of TB that transmits infection in the community which needs to be diagnosed early to break the chain of transmission.
Drug sensitive TB can be completely cured in six months while the Drug Resistant cases may take up one or two years time. If left untreated, a smear positive pulmonary TB patient can infect up to 10-15 people in a year, said a senior health official. "Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of TB patients along with TB preventive treatment among their contacts is the key strategy to cut the chain of transmission and prevent the spread of TB," the official added. Incidentally, the Health department has already issued an advisory to all the DMs, asking them to improve the existing infrastructure related to the treatment, community support to TB patients as Bengal is committed to achieve 'TB Mukto Bangla' by 2025.