The Central Government has released the Annual TB Report 2020. The report was released by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey via video conferencing.
Gujarat has secured the first position followed by Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh in the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), reported ANI.
“Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and MoS (Health) Ashwini Kumar Choubey launch the Annual TB Report 2020 through video conferencing; Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh ranked first, second and third best-performing states respectively,” tweeted ANI.
Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and MoS (Health) Ashwini Kumar Choubey launch the Annual TB Report 2020 through video conferencing; Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh ranked first, second and third best-performing states respectively. pic.twitter.com/zfXil6XAw3
— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2020
Meanwhile, a study published on Wednesday claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to 95,000 additional tuberculosis related deaths in India over the next five years, due to disruptions to health services, and delays in diagnosis and treatment.
The modelling study was published in the European Respiratory Journal. It found that the COVID-19 pandemic could significantly increase the global burden of TB.
It estimates at least 110,000 additional deaths from TB in India, China, and South Africa unless health services maintained and strengthened.
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The researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Lancaster University in the UK noted that before COVID-19 outbreak, over 4,000 people were dying from TB every day.
“There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in decreased TB clinic attendance, delayed diagnosis and treatment,” said study first author Finn McQuaid, Assistant Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at LSHTM.
“This is especially so in low- and middle-income countries where health services, or access to them, might be substantially disrupted,” McQuaid said.
He noted that early anecdotal information from India, China, and South Africa suggests that the number of people being diagnosed and treated for TB has fallen significantly.
The team measured the effect of these factors on TB incidence and deaths in these three countries which make up about 40 per cent of the global TB cases.
The researchers modelled different scenarios with various implementations of social distancing measures and health service disruption lasting for six months to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on global TB burden.
They found that if there is substantial health service disruption, such as a 50 per cent reduction in TB cases detected and successfully treated, there would be an increase in both incidence and deaths from TB over the subsequent five years, regardless of the level of social contact.
However, if social distancing measures are minimal and there is substantial health care disruption — based on 80 per cent reduction in case detection and treatment success — the model predicts an 8-14 per cent increase in cumulative deaths from TB over the next five years.