Nilgiris will be TB-free soon

Having the lowest rate of incidence of tuberculosis anywhere in the country, the Nilgiris has been selected for a pilot project by the 'TB-Free India' Campaign to completely eradicate the infectious disease by 2020.

N. Raghubabu, Joint Director of Health and Family Welfare, the Nilgiris, said that the campaign, launched by the Prime Minister, aimed at ridding the country of tuberculosis by 2025.

“The Nilgiris could potentially be the first district to be declared to be completely TB-free in the coming years, due to the extremely low rate of incidence among the population,” he said.

Hiriyan Ravi, Medical Superintendent of the Government Headquarters Hospital in Udhagamandalam, said that of a population of 7.35 lakh in the district, only 350, or 0.04% of the population have contracted tuberculosis in the district, which was far below the national average.

“We have identified the people having tuberculosis and are treating them,” added Mr. Ravi, stating that the Nilgiris did not have any instances of Multi drug-resistant-tuberculosis (MDR-TB) or Extensively drug-resistant-tuberculosis (XDR-TB).

“Though there are no concrete reasons for the low rates of tuberculosis, we suspect that part of the reason is due to treatment practices leading to the disease being unable to spread amongst the population,” he added.

Machines capable of automated diagnostic tests have been set up in the Government Headquarters Hospital in Udhagamandalam and Gudalur to test patients quickly and to treat them effectively, said Mr. Raghubabu.

The health department is also going to receive a dedicated vehicle with equipment which will be capable of going door-to-door and checking for new cases of infection amongst the population.

“Private practitioners will also have to inform the health department about any new infections, while healthcare workers, who will be part of the field-level team going door-to-door will also be given incentives to identify patients and assist in treating them,” said Mr. Raghubabu.