The Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) held a meeting of its TB Forum at the civic headquarters to strengthen implementation of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan conducted under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme.
The session conducted on Monday focused on bringing high-risk patients under treatment and eradicating the disease.
Officials discussed outreach to vulnerable groups, including slum dwellers, brick kiln workers, migrant labourers, the homeless, prisoners, senior citizens in care homes, students in residential schools, construction workers, and those in industrial zones. Civic-run TB camps will be organised in these areas.
The municipal commissioner directed that all hospitals and pathology labs in PMC limits must register TB patients and suspected cases with the civic body. He also ordered that patients be given a month’s supply of medicines instead of the current weekly allotment.
Under the campaign, suspected patients can visit civic health centres for free check-ups, chest X-rays, and NAAT tests. Those diagnosed with TB will also receive Rs 1,000 per month during treatment under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana, and can benefit from nutritional support through the ‘Nikshay Mitra’ initiative, in which individuals, corporates, NGOs, and other organisations can sponsor TB patients for six months to three years.
