By The Editor
Tuberculosis (TB) has recently reappeared with vengeance and became world’s largest infectious disease killer which afflicts more than 10 million people each year with India’s share being 30 per cent. In 2021 there were about 30lakh new TB cases in India with high casualties constituting around 38 per cent of global TB deaths. Advances in medical technologies along with inclusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have revolutionised diagnosis of TB which are also helping accelerate development of new drugs and therapies. World Tuberculosis Day is observed every year on March 24 and the theme for this year is: “TB! We can end TB!”, urging global leaders for action to stop TB epidemic. The disease is preventable, treatable, and curable, but early diagnosis is highly essential before it spreads further.
Until the introduction of safe and effective treatment, tuberculosis was widespread which claimed lives of many eminent scholars at the prime of their youth. Doctors have now found methods of bringing it under control but keeping the dreaded and infectious disease under surveillance and preventing it from spreading is an important public health problem. Tuberculosis is a disease of both humans and animals. Important factors in the spread of the disease are poverty and overcrowding. Hence hygiene and cleanliness are very crucial for prevention and as living standards rise so incidence of tuberculosis falls keeping in mind significance of nourishment. In early stages of tuberculosis, a person may develop no signs of illness at all. But as the disease advances he or she may feel uncomfortable and weak, may develop fever and lose appetite, lose weight, cough up blood, experience chills and sweats. Tuberculosis can affect all parts of the body, most common being the lungs leading to pulmonary tuberculosis or consumption. Other common sites are the lymph glands and membranes which cover the brain causing tuberculosis meningitis. Tuberculosis originally infecting one part of the body may spread to other parts. If not treated in early stages it may cause scarring even when healed and this may lead to sterility and other residual defects. TB is contagious which is spread through contact with diseased persons or through inhaling infected droplets. Cattle TB spread through cow milk with infected udders is rapidly disappearing because of elimination of infected cattle, pasteurisation and improved public hygiene.
World Tuberculosis Day was celebrated with enthusiasm in many important centres of the state on March 24 in which medical personnel and government officials took part who stressed on awareness and preventive measures. Central government has taken the initiatives of ending tuberculosis by 2025 with a programme on vision of achieving “Tb free India” under broad themes of prevent, detect, treat and build pillars for universal coverage through government health system. Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare had organized a virtual event “One World TB Summit” on March 24 in observance of World Health Tuberculosis Day at Rudrakash Convention Centre in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh in which Governor of Meghalaya, Phagu Chauhan also attended.