IndianOil, health ministry join hands to intensify tuberculosis elimination project

New Delhi [India], December 28 (ANI): As part of its corporate Social responsibility (CSR), the Indian Oil Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central TB Division (CTD) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to undertake intensified Tuberculosis elimination project.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.
Uttar Pradesh and Chhatisgarh share the highest burden of TB cases among large states in India.
The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), previously known as the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), aims to strategically reduce the TB burden in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals.
With a multi-pronged approach that addresses all aspects of TB at its different stages, this anti-TB campaign aims to ensure early identification of presumptive TB and prompt diagnosis using high-sensitivity diagnostic tests at the doorstep. The drive also aims to offer sustainable and equitable access to free high-quality TB treatment, care, and support services to the people of these two states.
With this pathbreaking foray, IndianOil has emerged as the first corporate to supplement state efforts in the Active Case Finding campaign (ACF) by investing close to Rs 64 crores in all 75 districts of UP, covering approximately 10 per cent of its population once-a-year for three years, an official statement said on Wednesday.
The statement added IndianOil would also introduce 18 Mobile Medical Vans equipped with cutting-edge diagnostic technology in Uttar Pradesh. This would aid diagnosis of TB in rural areas and hard-to-reach communities leading to improved early case detection and thereby ensuring early treatment.

Moreover, the state-owned company will provide handheld Xray Units in Uttar Pradesh covering all 18 state headquarters and 8 aspirational districts. The statement added that Xray Units will also be provided in five divisions of Chhattisgarh.
"As part of the holistic governance approach, both ministries have collaborated through this MOU. This agreement will bolster Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision to end Tuberculosis in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)," Mandaviya said.
The diagnostic support provided as part of the MoU will strengthen the efforts to identify TB patients enabling the timely treatment, he added.
"This milestone MoU is an affirmation of the Indian energy sector's resolve to align with Hon'ble PM's vision to enhance the robust healthcare system in India," minister Puri said, as per the statement. (ANI)