The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : TB prevalence a cause for concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

TB prevalence a cause for concern

Staff Reporter

Governor launches 58th TB Seal Campaign

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

CREATING AWARENESS: Governor Rameshwar Thakur (centre), Health Minister R. Ashok (left) and KSTA secretary Shashidhar Buggi at the inauguration of the TB Seal Campaign in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Bangalore: “As much as 80 per cent of the problem which the Karnataka State Tuberculosis Association tries to address exists in rural areas and urban slums. TB (Tuberculosis) spreads among people who do not have access to either understand the problem or have the facilities and resources to control the disease,” said Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

He was speaking after launching the 58th TB Seal Campaign on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti here on Tuesday.

Mr. Thakur said that everyone should take interest in controlling the disease. “TB affects the economic productivity of the country, which makes it important for us to create awareness and take steps to control the spread of the disease,” he added.

He said that involvement of non-governmental organisations is needed for the creation of awareness among the public. “It is necessary that the public, medical officers, private practitioners and non-governmental organisations take part in the programme, so that the situation can be improved upon in future,” he said.

Mr. Thakur urged people to buy the TB seals from the association to enable it (the association) to take up activities in support of the Government’s TB control programmes.

R. Ashok, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said that at least 15 out of every 1,000 people fall prey to TB. The DOTS programme has helped control the spread of the disease to an extent, but more needs to be done. “We aim to take it to every corner of the State. Last year, 65,000 patients were treated,” he said.

Shashidhar Buggi, president of the association, said that this year’s theme is “TB anywhere is TB everywhere” which implies a shared responsibility and need for unified action at all levels by people to contribute to efforts to control and finally eliminate TB.

He said that national TB programmes have achieved commendable results in detecting and treating TB patients. Case detection and treatment success rates have risen steadily to 64 per cent and 84 per cent respectively.

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