Observe ‘Ni-Kshay Diwas’ at Suswathya Kendras every month, CMoHs told

kolkata: The state Health department has issued an order to all the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMoHs) in the districts to observe ‘Ni-Kshay Diwas’ at all operational Su-swasthya Kendras on the third Monday of every month to make Bengal completely free from TB.

Tuberculosis units will also take part to organise the programme. The order said that the integrated TB services at Su-swasthya kendras are now delivering patient centric quality Tb services to the community. It will play a significant role in the elimination of TB. The State Labour department will also join hands with the Health department to put a combined effort to help the Bengal government fulfill its goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2025 through better coordination between the two government 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.

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.