Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh has detected 1.85 lakh new tuberculosis (TB) patients and screened over 31 lakh people during the Centre’s 100-day TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, emerging as the country’s best-performing state under the campaign, officials said on Thursday.Adding that the campaign achieved 91% coverage of identified high-risk villages and urban wards, officials also said that around 52,000 asymptomatic TB patients, who otherwise may have remained undiagnosed, were also identified in the campaign.Additional chief secretary, medical health and family welfare and medical education, Amit Kumar Ghosh, said the campaign demonstrated that tuberculosis elimination could be accelerated through a combination of political commitment, administrative coordination, technology and community participation.As part of the drive, 25,821 Ayushman Arogya camps were organised across the state, including more than 23,000 in villages and 2,000 in urban areas. Over 39.44 lakh high-risk individuals were registered, while 29.55 lakh chest X-rays and more than 8.24 lakh molecular tests were conducted using over 1,000 X-ray and 1,000 NAAT machines available across UP.Officials said 91% of all notified TB patients underwent NAAT testing, while 1.16 lakh patients received differentiated TB care. Preventive treatment was also provided to over 1.89 lakh eligible household contacts of TB patients and more than 10,000 other high-risk individuals.To strengthen nutritional support, the state registered over 5,000 new Nikshay Mitras, who have so far distributed more than 2.06 lakh nutrition kits to TB patients.The campaign also witnessed large-scale public participation, with elected representatives, local bodies, schools, colleges, corporate organisations and volunteers joining awareness activities.Officials said the model had demonstrated how coordinated public health interventions and community mobilisation could accelerate progress towards the national goal of eliminating tuberculosis ahead of schedule.
