The first of its kind event is expected to generate momentum for TB elimination by 2025
Prime minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the India TB summit next month, a first of its kind initiative to generate momentum for his vision to end Tuberculosis in India by 2025.
The summit, organised by the government of India will be held between March 13-16. On Tuesday the 5th Global Forum on TB vaccine kicks off in New Delhi in presence of WHO DDG Dr Soumya Swaminathan and science and technology minister Dr Harshvardhan.
“There are about 29 lakh new TB cases every year and about 4.20 lakh people, mostly poor, are estimated to die annually on account of TB, leaving lakhs of children orphaned.”
At the launch, Modi will formally launch the National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination 2017-25 (NSP). The plan was made public last year but the government is hoping that Modi’s charisma would lend it some much needed emphasis and states would act on it with more seriousness.
Late last year, Modi wrote a letter to all Chief ministers asking them to hold “at least” quarterly reviews of the TB control programme in order to meet the elimination target. “There are about 29 lakh new TB cases every year and about 4.20 lakh people, mostly poor, are estimated to die annually on account of TB, leaving lakhs of children orphaned. Economic loss on account of TB in India is estimated to be about Rs 20,000 crore per annum. We cannot allow such human tragedies for a disease which is treatable and for which drugs and diagnostics are available in the public healthcare system,” Modi wrote at the start of his letter.
TB kills an estimated 480,000 Indians every year and more than 1,400 every day. India also has more than a million ‘missing’ cases every year that are not notified and most remain either undiagnosed or unaccountably and inadequately diagnosed and treated in the private sector.
Even before its formal launch though, NSP suffered a setback last year when the budget estimate for it was reduced by Rs 4000 crore. The TB elimination plan was finally allocated Rs 12000 crore instead of the Rs 16000 crore originally envisaged.
Interestingly the plan itself recognises the reality of fund constraint as a major hurdle. Here’s what it says: “The JMM 2015 observed that the implementation of the NSP for 2012-2017 did not achieve the projected increase in case detection by the RNTCP. In addition, the ambitious expansion of resources planned under the NSP, 2012-2017 will have tripled the expenditure of the prior plan, but has not been matched by allocations. While RNTCP expenditure has increased 27% since 2012, there is a growing gap between the allocation of funds and the minimum investment required to reach the goals of the Plan.”
