Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launches “Tribal TB Initiative”

What is the News?

Union Health Minister launches the Tribal TB Initiative to achieve the goal of  TB Mukt Bharat.

About Tribal TB Initiative:

• Aim: Firstly, Tribal TB Initiative aims to address the problem of Tuberculosis in Tribal Population.
• Secondly, the initiative will initially focus on 161 districts across 18 identified States. It will focus on vulnerability mapping, active case finding, and promote behavioral change at the ground level.
• Thirdly, TB Mukt Bharat initiative aims at the elimination of TB by 2025.

Why was this initiative launched?

• Over 104 million tribal populations live in India. It spreads across 705 tribes and accounts for 8.6 % of India’s population.
• This tribal population is highly vulnerable to TB due to physical remoteness, malnutrition, poor living conditions, and lack of awareness. Hence, the initiative is launched to focus on these areas.

Note:

• Lakshadweep and the district of Badgam in Jammu and Kashmir have been declared TB Free on World TB Day 2021.
• The Government of India has increased the Budget allocation for TB in India four-fold in the last 5 years.

Other Tribal Health-Related Initiatives:

• ALEKH: It is an e-newsletter that is to be released on a quarterly basis. It will showcase the works of different stakeholders involved in improving the health and nutrition of tribals.
• Swasthya Portal: It aims to provide health and nutrition-related information to the tribal population of India.

Source: AIR

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