Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced TB-Mission 2020

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 28 October 2014 announced TB-Mission 2020 to eliminate Tuberculosis (TB) from India.

The announcement was made at WHO's Global TB Symposium titled Moving out of the box to end global TB epidemic: with post-2015 strategy while addressing the 45th Union World Conference on Lung Health at Barcelona.

The delegation comprising Indian and South African ministers also chaired the meeting of technical experts from BRICS countries. Tuberculosis control was also declared as the dominant agenda for the upcoming meeting of BRICS Health Ministers in December 2014.

The ministry emphasized that the solution to lung-related health challenges lie in bringing together all the stakeholders including the health care professionals, policy makers and the communities they serve. Under the evolving TB-Mission 2020, the ministry had instructed India’s anti-TB mission officials to work hard to achieve considerable success by 2019.

Tuberculosis Control in India
The Union government has already put TB control measures in top gear. India has gone into intensive mission mode from  the traditionally passive approach. This intensive mission mode invloves local self-government bodies and voluntary sector activists.

The Standards for TB Care in India which have been developed are not minimum standards but a composite of the best possible diagnosis strategies using high-sensitive tools, universal drug susceptibility testing, quality-assured drugs and improved regimens.

Moreover, India is also in the process of ensuring free diagnosis and treatment to all TB patients irrespective of the provider  be it government or private hospital. Steps are already undertaken to ensure that patients are provided with nutrition support and relevant financial enablers.

The government has already undertaken regulatory steps like banning commercial serology for TB diagnosis, bringing anti-TB drugs under a separate schedule of the national law on drugs to prevent misuse and mandatory notification whenever a new TB case is detected.