Palak Juneja
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Written By: Palak Juneja | Published : May 17, 2016 3:17 PM IST
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced a toll free number 1800116666 for counseling and treatment support services for all tuberculosis patients. The digital initiative for transforming India has taken a leap with this new idea and the statement by the Ministry We are just a call away has now become true.
J.P Nadda, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister tweeted about the 'pura course, pakka ilaaj' which is about giving a missed call or calling on the toll-free number for diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. The service will be available in Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Delhi and the facility will extend across the country in different phases.
Now counselling and treatment for TB is JUST a call away. #TransformingIndiapic.twitter.com/tGFSbElc1y
Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) May 17, 2016
According to World Health Organisation, 9.6 million people suffered from TB in 2014, out of which 1.5 million died. It also revealed that the countries having the highest number of MDR-TB cases are India, China and South Africa. In India, tuberculosis affects two people in every three minutes and the lack of awareness about the disease only makes things worse. Read about the signs and symptoms of tuberculosis.
The government has been trying to control the spread of the disease for many years. It also made Amitabh Bachchan the ambassador of the 'TB Harega, Desh Jeetega' campaign which helped the government reach out to a lot more people. With campaigns urging people to complete their course of medication and easy and free availability of TB medicines, the number of TB cases are expected to go down.
Tuberculosis is an air-borne disease which generally attacks people with lower immunity. Children, elderly and pregnant women are more susceptible to the disease.One of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of disease is following basic hygiene rules. You can also follow these 11 simple rules that can help you prevent tuberculosis.
Image source: ANI
