World Tuberculosis Day 2017: Global community join hands to fight againstTB

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh), Mar. 24 (ANI): On the occasion of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the global community have joined hands in observing this day and fighting against the disease. Delegates from twenty-one countries including India participated in the TB awareness rally on Friday in north Indian hill town Shimla. All foreign delegates were here on a visit under a training programme, third International Public health Management Development program organised by PGI Chandigarh. Besides India, delegates are from Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Angola, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago and Bangladesh. The Health Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Kaul Singh Thakur flagged off the awareness rally on World TB Day. Thakur said the state would eradicate Tuberculosis (TB) from the state by 2021- much before the centre's deadline (2025). "The state will be first in the country to achieve this distinction, adding that in last 20 years, over two lakh people suffering with TB have been cured across the state," Thakur told ANI. Under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), Hamirpur was the first district to take up the activity in 1995 followed by Kangra and Mandi in 1998. He added that the entire state had been covered in January, 2002 under this programme. Talking about national scenario, Health Minister added that since 1997, more than 19 million patients in India were put on treatment and over 3.4 million additional lives has been saved. Minister appealed the foreign delegates to join hand with the international community to end the Tuberculosis. Coordinator of the programme Dr. Sonu Goel, who is assistant professor at the department of community medicine at PGI Chandigarh, said that these delegates have come here from 21 countries to learn the management skills in public health management. One of the delegates from Kyrgyzstan, Nagira Umetalieva sharing her experience said that "It is a coincidence that she is here to join the TB Day awareness. We celebrate World TB Day back home with prisoners as we are able to reduce the increasing patients among prisoners. Here we have learnt many things including the management skills in public health like how to coordinate the laboratory technicians and doctors as it is important for them to understand each other. It would help in diagnostic and treatment part. We all have come here together to stop TB." One of the delegates from Indonesia said that the community participation is important and in Indonesia the Islamic leaders are joining hand to eradicate the diseases and they can be contacted for Public health awareness as they are playing an important role in the most populated Muslim country of the globe.(ANI)