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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 23
| Issue : 2 | Page : 111-112 |
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End tuberculosis by 2025 in India
Vinitha Ravindran
Department of CNE and Research, College of Nursing, TN M. G. R. Medical University, CMC, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| Date of Web Publication | 24-Jan-2023 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Vinitha Ravindran
Department of CNE and Research, College of Nursing, TN M. G. R. Medical University, CMC, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/ijcn.ijcn_122_22
How to cite this article:
Ravindran V. End tuberculosis by 2025 in India. Indian J Cont Nsg Edn 2022;23:111-2 |
In the aftermath of COVID -19 and the debate on the long-term effects of this deadly infection, we have a tendency to forget the equally deadlier infections that, over the past many years, continue to cause untoward disruption in an individual's and family's life. The disastrous effect of major communicable diseases like tuberculosis (TB) is still a major concern, especially in countries like India. TB is the second common cause of morbidity and mortality due to communicable diseases next to COVID-19. About one-fourth of the world's population is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria, but many do not progress to develop the disease and become ill. An infected person who does not become ill with the disease cannot transmit TB.[1]
TB continues to be a major public health issue in India, and India bears the highest TB epidemic in the world.[2] In 2021, among the 30 high-burden countries for TB in the world, India accounted for 28% of incident of TB cases (highest) and 32% of total number of TB-related deaths.[3] As the economically productive age group is more susceptible and is affected by the disease, TB also causes a high economic burden to the families.[4] The global report on TB by the WHO has recorded a decline in the reporting of new case of TB during COVID between 2019 and 2020 with a subsequent rise in 2021 in India pointing out that undiagnosed and untreated TB may facilitate increase in TB-related deaths and more importantly the spread of the infection. TB is a treatable infection; however, without treatment, the mortality from TB disease can be as high as 50%.[3]The gravity of the effects of this infectious disease has invoked drastic steps to combat the infection at the country and global level.
The End TB Strategy by the WHO focuses on three primary goals with a vision of a world free of TB: (1) percentage reduction of TB deaths to 75% in 2025 and 95% in 2035, (2) percentage reduction of TB incidence rate to 50% by 2025 and 90% in 2035 and (3) percentage of TB-affected households facing catastrophic costs due to TB to 0% in 2025. These goals are achievable through integrated patient-centred management, care and prevention of all types of TB, political commitment with strong policies for treatment and prevention, engaging communities and other support systems in the fight against the infection and intensifying research and innovation in developing interventions and impact.[3]
While the WHO is looking at 2035 targets, India's policy has an ambitious outlook of achieving End TB targets by 2025 in view of accelerating decline in TB cases as early as possible. The National Strategic Plan (NSP) to End TB adopts focused and concrete actions to address the daunting realities related to the TB infection in India.[5] The NSP that put forward in the year 2020 has proposed a framework with strategic interventions for accelerated elimination of TB in India. This renewed approach has the following pillars: build and sustain an enabling environment for ending TB (strong policies, supportive organisations, multi-sectorial approach and strong human resources), prevent TB (effective treatment of individuals with TB and improved and strong infection control measures at all the levels), detect all TB (early and prompt detection of all presumptive cases with highly sensitive diagnostic tests) and treat all (effective treatment and management of susceptible and resistant TB and address TB in priority populations and strengthen patient support systems). The Government's Nikshay Mitra initiative provides an additional support through nutrition, advanced diagnosis availability and vocational support to individuals infected with TB.[6]
All healthcare workers in India need to partner in this effort to accelerate TB reduction and sustain an infection-free community within 2–3 years. The interventions in the framework can and should be implemented in primary, secondary and tertiary level settings, and there is much scope for nurses to be a part of this initiative and interventions wherever they are placed in healthcare. Let the nursing workforce be a vital leverage of making this initiative becomes a reality in India, and let our efforts on eradicating communicable diseases continue.
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