India is committed to end TB by 2025 and under National Strategic Plan a special campaign ‘Active Case Finding’ in High Tuberculosis (TB) burden districts including Kangra and Chamba will be launched on June 16 and in Kangra district alone, where more than 1.5 lakh persons from the vulnerable population and high risk area in the district will be screened.

Chief medical officer Kangra Dr RS Rana told UNI here on Friday that the ‘Active Case Finding’ teams are comprising of Health and ASHA workers of the concerned area and will go to make special efforts with objective of reaching the unreached in campaign mode to enhance TB case finding. CMO said that Kangra and Chamba districts are going for this drive from tomorrow till June 30.

Dr Rana said that in Kangra district alone 1,55,668 persons from the vulnerable population and high risk area will be screened and 577 trained field teams have been constituted for this task in the district. Dr RS Rana stated that the previous active case finding round was held in January 18, yielded 52 hidden TB cases among the vulnerable population. He added that the district has done all the necessary preparation for the smooth roll out of Active TB Case Finding. He said that additional logistics have been arranged in adequate quantities across all designated labs in the district.

District Health Officer Dr Rajesh Guleri shared that this campaign will be carried out on holidays too, to complete the task. He said that Mobile Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, (CBNAAT) van is coming to the district for the first time and will start from Jwalamukhi and cover areas of Pragpur, Dadasiba, Sansarpur Terrace, Rey and Termeher.

ASHA workers will collect the sputum sample of suspected patient and transport the same to nearest designated microscopy centre for testing. Efforts will be made to initiate treatment promptly. Dr RK Sood District TB Officer told UNI that vulnerable groups being targeted include Slum, Difficult to reach villages, hamlets, Prison inmates, Mine workers, Villages with known higher case load, Old Age homes, Stone crusher workers, Tribal school hostels; Construction site workers, Tea garden workers, Populations groups with known high malnutrition, Villages seeking care from traditional healers, High risk groups for HIV, Homeless, Weaving and Glass industrial workers, Cotton mill workers, Orphanages, Unorganized labour, Homes for destitute, Asylums.

Dr Sood said that innovations like Technology enable adherence 99 DOTS have also been started in the district for prevention of Drug Resistant TB. Tablet computers have been provided to TB supervisory staff and block pharmacists to track the drug stocks and adherence on real time patients.