Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : October 17, 2014 1:03 PM IST
The World Bank and The Global Fund (the agency that provides funds to deal with Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria) have joined hands with India's healthcare system to fight against Tuberculosis. The two global fund agencies have jointly agreed to provide financial aid of $100 million to the nation to combat spread of Tuberculosis. The World Bank team accompanied the specialists of World Health Organisation (WHO) visited Shatabdi Hospital, Govandi and other tuberculosis hot-spots in the Mumbai region. (Read: Complications of tuberculosis you should know about)
Members of World Bank team who visited Mumbai said that the big chunk of money would go to Maharashtra as large number of TB cases namely MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant) and XDR-TB (extremely drug resistant) are reported in the state. Around 70 crore has already been received by the state government from the new fund. With more than 22 lakh new TB cases and 2,70,000 deaths reported annually in India, it is also estimated that around 64,000 new cases of MDR-TB might emerge in the coming years.
Sewri TB Hospital in Mumbai, one of the biggest TB hospitals in the country, has reported a steady increase in the number of TB patients, particularly those suffering from MDR and XDR strains of tuberculosis. As per the latest statistical report by the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), the city has 2,310 cases of TB with 38% of the ailing patients suffering from MDR and around 122 people with XDR- TB. At the Sewri hospital, more than 12 people suffering from TB have committed suicide in the past three years. (Read: Ten facts you didn t know about tuberculosis)
Dr Satish Pawar, Director, Directorate of Health Services, said,' The World Bank team expressed their happiness towards the health department, Mumbai and the municipal corporation for their initiatives to control Tuberculosis.' The financial aid lend by the World Bank will be used to enhance the diagnostic process and improve strategies to cover TB services in the public sector. This includes scale-up of the 29 Indian states including the Union territories and build relation with private healthcare professionals to know the TB cases being diagnosed and treated at the private hospitals.
The World Bank team is scheduled to visit major cities in the country like Telangana, Gujarat and Rajasthan after visiting Thane today. Dr R S Gupta, Director, Central TB Division, said, 'The Union Government has increased the healthcare budget allocation for TB to 800 crore (it was initially 200 crore). The treatment for primary tuberculosis costs less than 2,000 per year, while that for a patient suffering from XDR-TB goes up to five lakh.' (Read: How you can prevent tuberculosis)
Image Source: Getty Images
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