Mira-Bhayandar: The health department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has bagged the second spot in the state for taking effective initiatives under the Central government’s National Tuberculosis Eradication Program (NTEP) between January to December 2023.
The adjudicators relied on nine different parameters before awarding the second spot to the MBMC. The health department conducted door-to-door surveys coupled with mop-up rounds aimed at active case-finding (ACF).
Armed with a targeted health assessment questionnaire and detailed knowledge about the symptoms, 162 teams comprising auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) and accredited social health activists (ASHA) volunteers visited 68,519 households, followed by mop-up rounds to detect potentially missed out TB patients last year. Over 2,894 people with possible symptoms were tested, out of which 45 were found to be suffering from TB. With the latest additions, the total number of TB patients undergoing treatment in the twin city stands at 1,250.
Impressed by the elaborate exercise including comprehensive surveys, awareness campaigns, proper line of treatment and above all roping in all private hospitals and medical stores to get timely information about suspected TB patients approaching them for treatment or medicines, the state government had decided to replicate the MBMC model across all civic bodies falling under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
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The Union Health Ministry aims to make the country TB-free by 2025 under the NTEP with an emphasis on four strategic areas, prevent, detect and treat. Notably, the MBMC had bagged the first spot in the state last year by scoring 92.52 marks for its excellent performance in the fight to eliminate TB and by helping 2464 patients recover from the illness.
