2,000 TB survivors helped out over four lakh patients across India

Over 4 lakh TB patients in India receive peer support from trained survivors, praised by public health experts.

Over four lakh people with tuberculosis across India received essential peer support and person-centred care from 2,000 TB survivors trained as ‘champions’, said the Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH), a non-profit organisation working on TB, at the national dissemination meeting of the Unite to ACT Project in New Delhi on June 21.

At the meeting, former NITI Aayog member and public health expert Vinod Kumar Paul emphasised the vital role of community engagement in eliminating TB in India and appreciated REACH for developing a model worthy of emulation, with the ‘TB Champions’ at the forefront, according to a press release from REACH.

As part of the Unite to Act project, ‘TB Champions’ or survivors work as community role models to raise awareness about the disease, and provide valuable care and support to the affected people. 

TB Champion Arti Das from Ajmer in Rajasthan said, “Over the last two years, I’ve not only supported people through TB treatment but also forged deeper connections with them. This connection can make all the difference in their journey to recovery.”

REACH director Ramya Ananthakrishnan added, “Through the Unite to ACT project, we have witnessed first-hand the commitment of TB Champions in transforming lives and reducing stigma within communities, by drawing on their own personal experiences of TB and driven by the motivation that no one should suffer like they did. As a result, we have been able to improve the overall treatment success rates for people with TB supported through this project.”

Arun Kumar Jha, former Economic Adviser, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; Raghuram Rao, Assistant Director General, Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Nishant Kumar, Joint Director, Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and Sarabjit Chadha, Regional Technical Director (India & South-East Asia), FIND, were also part of the event.