Arunachal guv urges state govt departments, civil society to create awareness on TB

The governor in a message said that World TB Day, falling on March 24 each year, is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis today remains an epidemic in much of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a-half million people each year, mostly in developing countries.

He called on organized groups like Ex Servicemen, university students, Bharat Scouts & Guides, Red Cross Society, enlighten citizens and others to come forward in their individual and organizational capacities to banish TB as a National Agenda.

The governor said that in a democracy it is not only the Government but also enlightened groups that play a role in nation building. 

Acharya underscored that TB is a completely curable disease at very low-cost through the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) treatment administered by the government.

However treatments and diagnostic tests should be accessible by each and every person affected by tuberculosis all over the world and death rate of this disease should be brought to zero.

The governor said that India has a large burden of the world's TB and called on to take measures to prevent spreading TB by getting the right treatment quickly and follow it through to completion.

He also added studies reveal that each year, about 2.2 million people develop TB in India and an estimated 2,20,000 people expire due to the disease. In North East five percent of TB patients die annually on an average.

“These data clearly indicate that we need to take more steps to eradicate this killing ailment from the world,” Acharya said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)

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