President of India on March 23 said the outbreak of COVID-19 and the emergence of new variants of coronavirus had brought unprecedented stress on the country's healthcare system.

"It (COVID) posed an extraordinary challenge to the healthcare infrastructure," he said. The combined efforts of the Centre and the state governments along with our healthcare workers in launching the world's biggest vaccination drive strengthened our fight against the pandemic, the president said in his message on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day.

"I am happy to learn that World Tuberculosis Day is being observed on 24th March 2022 to raise public awareness about TB. On this day in the year 1882, Dr Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacteria that causes TB. It paved the way for diagnosis and cure of this deadly disease," he said.

"The outbreak of COVID-19 and the emergence of new variants of coronavirus had brought unprecedented stress on the country's healthcare system. It posed an extraordinary challenge to the healthcare infrastructure," the President said.

"I am happy to note that the national TB elimination program was quick to deploy effective mitigation measures and adapted to the changing environment to ensure that the TB patients across the country had access to treatment, despite facing many challenges due to the pandemic," he said.

"I convey my best wishes for the launch of the India TB report 2022. I take this occasion to congratulate all the TB champions who have battled the disease and are showing the way for others. Let us all work together to achieve a TB-free India by 2025," the President said.