Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan shocked over spurt in TB cases in Telangana

Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan expressed shock over the rise in TB incidence in Telangana even as the nation is aiming to eradicate the TB by 2025. She convened a meeting with senior officials, doctors, NGOs and volunteers on Wednesday to take stock of TB situation in Hyderabad and Telangana.

She enquired about the reasons for the rise of TB cases in Hyderabad and measures being taken to cure identified cases, especially those living in slums. It may be mentioned here that Telangana registered 71,000 TB positive cases in 2019, a jump of nearly 20,000 cases from the previous year when the figure was around 50,000. Compared to other districts, Hyderabad registered the highest of 16,500 cases.

Health officials working in TB Control programme explained to the Governor that the high number of cases was due to increased surveillance and groundwork taken up in the last year after high priority accorded by Centre to eradicate TB in India by 2025.

Also, the officials said that the figure in Hyderabad was high as people from neighbouring districts adjoining Hyderabad visit the major state hospitals where they are diagnosed and their names are entered in Hyderabad list. Nearly 3,500 of such cases, that are in Hyderabad list, actually hail from neighbouring districts, they told Governor.

The Governor directed the health officials to take up a pilot project in two slums and ensure all TB identified cases are under strict guidance and medication for six months to ensure they are completely cured. She wanted similar programme to be implemented in all slums in coming weeks.

Governor told the state TB Control teams to prepare their action plan in a week's time and submit it to her.

Governor stated that Indian Red Cross Society with over 1.8 lakh members would take an active role to build a TB-free society and reach out to last person affected by the disease. She said it was quite sad to note TB continued to remain a killer disease in the society despite so much advancement in several areas. It is important to get rid of this malice within stipulated time and directed the District Medical officer Dr J Venkat, Dr Sudhir Prasad, General Secretary, TB Association, to formulate a strategic action plan to ensure that every TB patient has access to quality diagnosis, treatment and support.

In order to eliminate TB completely in a couple of years in the state, the Governor also directed the DM&HO to conduct TB screening and awareness campaign on March 24, ''World TB Day'', at all slums, night shelters and other places in twin cities.

The Governor said that she had extensively done research on three diseases viz TB, Dengue and cancer and said these killer diseases are preventable with the help of community engagement.

The District TB Control Officer Dr Chala Devi said the Hyderabad hospitals are providing TB treatment to neighbouring districts, states, and other countries like USA, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and other countries.

Surendra Mohan, Secretary to Governor, Dr Sneha Shukla, WHO- TB Consultant and several officers from GHMC attended the meeting.