Kanpur: Efforts will be made to eliminate tuberculosis from every village and make panchayats free from this disease. This will be deliberated in the open assemblies of the gram panchayats and with its new patients will be identified through health committees.
Pursuing this objective, hundreds of gram panchayats and village secretaries of the district participated in a sensitisation programme at the Vikas Bhawan auditorium here on Wednesday.
District Panchayati Raj Officer Manoj Kumar, while presiding over the programme, urged everyone to encourage ward members and social representatives of their villages to become ‘Nikshay Mitras'. He said TB eradication could be achieved only through collaborative efforts of the health department and the supporting social organisations. "This is a critical public health concern requiring coordinated endeavours from all stakeholders. This matter must be addressed in the health and sanitation committee meetings of every village", he said. He has advised people having TB symptoms to get them tested and take treatment.
District Tuberculosis Officer (DTO) Dr RP Mishra directed to compile a comprehensive village and ward-wise catalogue of areas reporting varying TB cases over the past three years. He asked to identify ten gram panchayats every month for focused intervention.
"Subsequently, through enhanced screening, testing, treatment, counselling, nutrition and emotional support, these areas should be swiftly declared TB-free panchayats", Kumar said.