Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): Nearly 140 new TB cases have come to light after tests conducted at Nikshay Shivirs, special camps set up by the district health department to wipe out TB by this year, official sources said.
The camps started from December 7 last year, official sources said.
An X-ray of 11,000 people was taken and the sputum of 3,500 tested in the camps. The number of people suffering from TB was 1,796 last year, and 55 people died of it. As part of the drive to wipe out TB, patients visiting hospitals and health centres are screened.
Twenty-three districts in Madhya Pradesh have been included in the campaign after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement that the country would be TB-free by this year. The target has to be achieved within 100 days. The sputum of those suspected to be suffering from the disease is also tested. According to the campaign, the district health department has set the target to screen 1.96 lakh people.
As many as 1.06 lakh people have already been screened. This indicates that more than 50% of the target has been achieved. District TB officer Dr Jageshwar Kori said that the camps had been set up across the district and that 1.06 lakh people were checked up.
A machine, brought from Bhopal, is taken from one place to another to take x-ray of the people. A team of the health department visits jails, student hostels and other places with the machine, he said. Many people are getting connected to the campaign as Nikshay Mitras, he said.
In the district, there are nearly 250 Nikshay Mitras who adopt TB patients and take care of them, Dr Kori said. The TB department has appealed to people to visit the Nikshay Shivirs for a checkup. Chief medical and health officer Dr Sudhir Kumar Dehriya said that more than 50% of the target had been achieved under the campaign. The number of people to be examined will be more than that of the target, Dr Dehriya said.
