Task force to strive to make Mysuru ‘tuberculosis-free district’

A campaign was launched at the gram panchayat level to make Mysuru a “tuberculosis-free district” and the Department of Health and Family Welfare will take up awareness drives in villages across the district to educate the masses on the disease and its prevention.

A campaign was launched at the gram panchayat level to make Mysuru a “tuberculosis-free district” and the Department of Health and Family Welfare will take up awareness drives in villages across the district to educate the masses on the disease and its prevention.

Inaugurating the drive here on Tuesday, ZP CEO K.M. Gayathri said everyone has to join hands to eradicate TB from the district. It is the responsibility of the officers from all the departments to extend their support and cooperation in realising the goal, she added.

Also, a training will be imparted to the members and PDOs of the gram panchayats besides the staff from the Department of Health and Family Welfare and other departments, and also sensitise them on the programmes that the government has launched for TB patients. Several schemes are running for eliminating the disease and efforts have to be stepped up to educate the TB patients, she added.

She said any programme or initiative can find success only when it reaches the villages and therefore the drive has been launched at the gram panchayat level to spread the message and achieve success towards the objectives.

Ms. Gayathri said the role of the PDOs are crucial here in taking the message to the villages and they must take the support of the elected representatives in making it happen. The support of every individual is key for the success of the campaign, she felt.

She suggested establishing a task force for achieving the goals of freeing Mysuru from TB. According to the guidelines issued by the task force, the staff have to work and ensure the number of patients are reduced. The identification of the patients and providing aid to them has to be the primary goal of the task force. Besides this, the regular programmes of the Health Department can be implemented on the subject.

Ms. Gayathri said the Government of India also has the aim of making India TB-free and several programmes have been launched in this direction, since TB has been identified as a contagious disease. Several NGOs are also working with the government in realising the goals.