Eliminating TB: TG bags nat’l award for 100-day NAAT campaign

Hyderabad: The State has achieved the overall best national performance award in Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) during the 100-day campaign. The award was received from Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda by RV Karnan and Dr A Rajesham, Joint Director, TB Telangana, during the World TB Day-2025 Celebrations at Vigyan Bhavan on Monday. The NAAT testing is a molecular-based testing with high accuracy compared to traditional one.

As per the directive given by the Union government, Telangana launched a 100-day intensive campaign with the aim to make a significant reduction in incidence and mortality rate of TB as an intensified campaign under the broader objective for TB elimination. In Telangana the programme is being implemented in nine districts – Adilabad, Badradri Kothagudem, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar, Medak, Nagarkurnool, Peddappaly, Suryapet and Wanaparthy. All these districts achieved more than 100 per cent of vulnerable population screening. Over 4,600 new TB cases were identified during the campaign. A budget of Rs 3.6 crore was pooled from various CSR components towards providing six-month nutritional support for on treatment people with TB in the nine districts under TB-Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.

Six portable AI-enabled handheld X Ray devices were procured by the district administrations (Wanaparthy, Peddappally, Mahbubnagar, Suryapet, Bhadradri Kothaguem 2) for TB screening. An amount of Rs 5 crore-plus has been exclusively paid for NPY DBT payments for nutritional support.

According to officials, the National Strategic Plan (NSP) 2017–25 proposed bold strategies with commensurate resources to rapidly decline TB incidence and mortality and to attain the vision of a TB-free India. Telangana is committed to achieve a rapid decline in TB, morbidity and mortality while working towards elimination of TB by 2025. In 2024 it achieved 93 per cent TB notification target and 91 per cent success rate.