Around 267 VVIPs adopted TB patients under Nikshay Mitra initiative

Within two months of inception of the programe, more than 10.51 TB patients have given their consent and around 10.25 lakh patients have been adopted so far.

There are about 13.5 lakh TB patients in India out of which 12,69,177 are adults and 86,750 are pediatric cases within 0-14 years of age.

So far, more than 37,900 individuals have registered themselves as Nikshay Mitra and adopted TB patients to take care of them.

“We have around 13,55,928 TB patients in India. Nearly in two months since Nikshay Mitra initiative has been launched close to more than 10.25 lakh (1.25 million) TB patients have been adopted by individuals across India. This progame is not only eliminating the stigma but also helping in eradicating the disease from the country,” said a government official requesting anonymity.

Nikshay Mitra can be individuals, NGOs, political parties, corporates, institutions, elected representatives etc and they can support TB patients from a period of 6 months up to 3 years for their nutritional requirements and medicines.

The health union has set up a dedicated portal where interested individuals can register themselves are Nikshay Mitra.

In the last two years covid pandemic, adversely affected the functioning of National TB Elimination Program has most of the TB patients stopped going to the hospital. As a result, the government introduced door-to-door active case finding campaigns, bi-directional TB Covid-19 screening to ensure that no case goes undetected. Through these efforts, 8.37 lakhs people were tested for TB, leading to the diagnosis of 35,519 TB patients and 6.78 lakhs patients were notified through private sector.

The Global TB Report 2021 stated that the mortality rate due to all forms of TB between 2019 and 2020 increased by 11% in India. In absolute numbers, the total number of estimated deaths from all forms of TB excluding HIV, for 2020 was 4.93 lakhs (4.53-5.36 lakhs) in the country, 13% higher than the 2019 estimate.

India is also one of the top high-burden countries for TB as estimated by the WHO. With Nikshay Mitra Initiative, the government aims to meet the target of eliminating TB by 2025.