USAID to pilot TB-free project worth 1 million

Hyderabad: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will soon announce a project worth $1 million to create awareness on Tuberculosis with an ultimate goal of securing a TB-free India by 2025.

 USAID Administrator Mark Green said that India has the world’s highest TB incidence, with 2.8 million cases annually, accounting for more than a quarter of the global TB burden. “India also has the largest multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) burden among all countries with almost 1,50,000 cases of MDR-TB every year. Tuberculosis claims over 4,35,000 Indian lives each year, ranking TB among the top ten causes of death in the country,” he added.

Green, a member of the US delegation led by Ivanka Trump, daughter and advisor to US President Donald Trump, visited the State TB Training and Demonstration



Centre (STDC) on Thursday.  Earlier he met with a group of TB survivors and their families. He learned more about the barriers of testing and treatment they face on a daily basis, including discrimination. Talking about the success story of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, Mark said after his own battle with TB, senior Bachchan took up the cause and now championed the importance of early detection and appropriate treatment.

Special Chief Secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari said Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) had been working since decades to eradicate TB in India. “But due to increased burden of TB in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared India’s commitment to eliminate TB by 2025. In addition to that State Health Minister Dr C Laxma Reddy is committed to eliminate TB in Telangana by 2023,” he added.