SHILLONG:
The State Tuberculosis Office under the umbrella of National Health Mission, Meghalaya held a two-day capacity building of frontline staff on Counselling Soft Skills on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Habitat Shillong in collaboration with Saksham Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and supported by XIM University, Bhubaneswar and Saksham Pravaah.
While inaugurating the program, Dr. M Mawrie, State TB Officer reminded the health staff about the country’s goals towards TB Elimination by 2025.
He informed them that it is important for every person affected by tuberculosis and that their family members should be counseled at every opportunity.
The objective of the event is to train the frontline staff, which includes the Senior Treatment Supervisor and TB Health Visitor about the social determinants of TB, introduction, principles, and skills of counseling. Through this training, the staff is learning to utilize the skills of counseling and the way of approach while treating the TB community.
The training designed and implemented by TISS was entirely participatory focusing on practicing counseling skills and experiential.
The important message for all health staff working with the TB community is to have a non-judgmental approach and be empathetic towards TB patients.
To address the gap, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India came up with a national helpline number 1800-11-6666 where anyone can call and get free TB counseling and treatment support 24/7.