A national-level pilot project to detect tuberculosis (TB), HIV and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes among workers has been launched in Kozhikode district. It has been titled System for Workplace Engagement to Eliminate TB (SWEET).
P.P. Pramod Kumar, district TB and AIDS control officer, told The Hindu that migrant labourers formed a large chunk of the workforce at present. Prevalence of TB and HIV was found to be high among them. Kozhikode has a huge share of migrant labourers with HIV. The public health system missed many of the cases because of the pandemic. “We found it difficult to screen these people at their residences. So we contacted their employers and devised a plan to conduct medical camps and tests at their workplaces,” he said.
Since Kozhikode and Ernakulam districts have a high number of migrant labourers, the scheme was proposed to be first launched in these places. Companies that employ more than 1,000 workers are targeted in the scheme. Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society, which employs the highest number of workers in the district, is the first to be covered.
Dr. Pramod said though the main aim of SWEET was to detect TB cases, HIV and other non-communicable diseases too were made part of the screening process to make it more comprehensive. Awareness events too will be held. The officials are planning to finish the screening in the district in three months.
The Central TB division and the State TB cell have supported the initiative. The Kozhikode district-level launch was opened by Collector N. Tej Lohit Reddy recently. Dr. Pramod claimed that SWEET would be rolled out in other districts in the coming days.
The officials said efforts were on to make the district TB-free by 2025. Old age homes, jails, pain and palliative care centres and tribal colonies, and those who were earlier listed as vulnerable to TB and people with post-COVID complications have been screened. Webinars are being held in each Assembly constituency to create awareness among people’s representatives.
