Marking World Tuberculosis Day Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has once again reaffirmed the Indian Government’s commitment to making India tuberculosis (TB) free by 2025. “Tuberculosis is a preventable & treatable disease. On World TB Day, we reaffirm commitment to make India TB-free by 2025 by ensuring access to quality healthcare & advanced treatment. Together […]
Tuberculosis
Infectious disease
India faces the challenge of a range of infectious diseases. While deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are becoming increasingly prevalent, huge numbers of Indians continue to die annually due to infectious disease. This dual burden of disease has the potential to put a substantial amount of stress on an already underfunded and under resourced health […]
TB-free India: Mandaviya reaffirms commitment
This week, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya restated the Government’s commitment to working towards a TB-free India by 2025. How plausible is this ambition? “[The] Government and people will work together to make India TB-Free by 2025,” the Minister told lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha. He emphasised the need to raise awareness of tuberculosis as […]
AMR: The silent, parallel pandemic
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a “silent pandemic”, commentators argue, as experts argue for a harmonised approach to mitigate the damage. The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed substantially to the AMR crisis, with the prescription of antibiotics for the treatment of those affected by COVID-19 contributing to an increase in AMR cases. This is a […]
COVID-19 and TB? Coronavirus patients more susceptible?
There is no evidence to indicate a rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. However, they do suggest that COVID-19 patients may be more susceptible to contracting TB and, as such, surveillance efforts ought to be scaled up. “Due to the impact […]
COVID-19 figures higher than any other infectious disease
COVID-19 affected more people in a single year than any other infectious disease over a comparative timeframe in recent years. COVID-19 figures are often compared to other diseases. However, until recently, the figures were simply not available to make these comparison points. According to IndiaSpend, by the end of 2020 India officially had ten million […]
How does India fare on the roadmap to elimination?
India has a prolonged history of setting ambitious elimination deadlines for a host of diseases, only to miss the deadline and simply re-announce another year. Many diseases, such as leprosy, are simply neglected with most individuals affected belonging to lower castes and viewed as outcasts from society — a view proliferative through thousands of years. […]
Mining and lung health: An expected connection
It is a known issue that heavy industry work such as in the mining industry can wreak havoc on one’s health. However, the scale of the issue, particularly among India’s poorest, often goes overlooked. Populations associated with the mining industry in India — mostly from impoverished and tribal backgrounds – were found to have a […]
TB elimination by 2025: Vardhan restates commitment
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan has reiterated the Government’s commitment for tuberculosis (TB) elimination by 2025. “In India, under the guidance of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, India has accorded high priority for ending tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),” Vardhan told his counterparts from […]
Tuberculosis and the impact of COVID-19
While India continues to pour resources into fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, other health issues are too often sidelined. Many, such as tuberculosis (TB) have plagued India since long before the pandemic. TB, due to rapidly developing drug resistance, threatens to become all but untreatable in the coming decades. This situation can only worsen as […]