The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) found 106 confirmed cases of tuberculosis (TB) and seven confirmed cases of leprosy in a special survey conducted in September-October. The survey is part of India's plan to eliminate TB and leprosy by 2025 and 2030, respectively.
The civic body conducted the survey in two parts, between September 13 and September 16, and from September 26 to October 7. It formed 181 teams for the survey, with 99,323 households being visited.
According to a senior official from the civic health department, 617 people were found with suspected leprosy, of which seven were confirmed cases. Similarly, a total of 1,795 people are suspected to have contracted TB, with 106 confirmed cases.
Worked as per central's guidelines
As per guidelines of the central and state governments, and with an aim to find undiagnosed leprosy and TB patients and ensure that they get timely treatment, a detection campaign for creating awareness in society was conducted.
Civic health workers visited eight wards of the city and went from house to house to detect illnesses among people. “We examined a total of 3,17,430 people during the drive, with each team visiting 20-25 houses each day,” said a senior official from the civic health department.
It is mandated that local civic bodies conduct three surveys a year. However, this is the first survey conducted by the NMMC and the remaining will be carried out subsequently. During the survey, public awareness campaigns were also carried out simultaneously.
In November, the civic body will begin a campaign for HIV /AIDS awareness ahead of World AIDS Day which is observed on December 1.
