In a significant achievement on the health front, the health department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has bagged the second spot in the state for taking effective initiatives under the National Tuberculosis Eradication Program (NTEP)-a public health initiative started in 2020 by the Government of India.
The adjudicators relied on eleven 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, dedicated teams comprising auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM), accredited social health activists (ASHA) volunteers, multipurpose and link workers visited thousands of households, followed by mop-up rounds to detect potential TB patients in six months between January to June 2024.
Out of the 1318 TB cases detected, 1,187 patients (90 % ) have been effectively treated and cured of the illness, so far. The MBMC scored 77.80 marks to clinch the second spot for effective TB eradication management while competing with their 22 counterparts in the state.
“This is a token of appreciation for the dedicated efforts taken by our frontline healthcare workers and medical staff by implementing the Detect-Treat-Prevent-Adopt methodology mooted by the central government. However, our fight will continue till the TB illness is completely eradicated from the twin-city.” said civic chief- Sanjay Katkar.
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. Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs and is caused by a Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium.
Role Model for Entire MMR
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 replicated the MBMC model across all civic bodies falling under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region in July last year.
