New Delhi, December 4 (IANS). Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting with MPs from Bihar at the extended Parliament House Annexe in New Delhi. This meeting is part of the intensive outreach campaign under the ‘TB Free India Campaign’. The session followed similar meetings with MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra over the past two days and state-level consultations are also planned in the coming weeks to strengthen collective efforts against TB.
Union Ministers Giriraj Singh, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ram Nath Thakur, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Dr. Raj Bhushan Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey and MPs from Bihar were also present in the meeting.
Bringing together Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from across parties, the event titled ‘Parliamentarians’ Partnership for TB-Free India’ has further strengthened the unified political resolve to make rapid progress towards TB elimination in India.
In his address, JP Nadda highlighted the rapid progress being made towards TB eradication. He said that there has been a 21 percent decline in TB cases in the country between 2015 and 2024, which is almost double the global average. Additionally, there is a 90 percent treatment success rate, which is higher than the worldwide average. He emphasized that Bihar’s significant progress in screening, community-level outreach and patient support will play an important role in further strengthening India’s national progress.
JP Nadda has urged the MPs to take active leadership in their respective constituencies to achieve the national goal of eradicating TB. He appealed to the MPs to play a leading role in increasing public awareness, reducing social stigma, promoting early diagnosis through Nikshay camps and community testing (especially in asymptomatic vulnerable groups), strengthening monitoring of quality TB services at the district and block level and organizing Nikshay Mitras to ensure nutrition, psychological support and employment related support to the patients. Shri Nadda clarified that TB-free India is not just a health program but a people’s movement driven by collective will and active political leadership of public representatives like MPs.
During the session, MPs from Bihar reiterated their commitment to raise awareness, take quality diagnostics and patient-centric care to the grassroots level. Along with this, communities were also motivated to participate in the nationwide movement to eradicate TB.
Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava outlined India’s emerging strategy, which includes expanding AI-enabled diagnostics, intensified screening and enhanced patient support for better outcomes. Smt. Aradhana Patnaik, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission, presented details of the achievements made under the ‘TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ and also highlighted areas where parliamentary leadership can further strengthen Bihar’s response.
The discussion marked another milestone in the Ministry’s continued efforts to build political consensus and accelerate grassroots momentum towards a TB-free Bihar and TB-free India. Inspired by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MPs from Bihar reiterated their commitment to bring rapid progress towards a TB-free India so that political will is translated into transformative action at the grassroots level.
–IANS
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