Lok Sabha Question No. 1751 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-16
Subject: Tuberculosis Vaccination
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Margani Bharat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION 1751 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## TUBERCULOSIS VACCINATION

## 1751. SHRI MARGANI BHARAT :

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state :

- (a) whether it is a fact that TB may recur again after crossing 40 years, even after BCG vaccination during the early stages;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the skin TB test developed by ICMR;
- (d) whether such test is available in the market and if not, the time when it is likely to be available for people;
- (e) whether the Government is focusing more on disease rather than early detection and prevention; and
- (f) if so, the reasons thereof and action plan of Government to remove TB from the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

- (a)  and (b) BCG vaccination can prevent severe forms of TB in children and the protective efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time. The risk of Tuberculosis even after vaccination remains in an individual, if exposed to the bacteria at all ages, however the TB infection breaks down to TB disease, if the immunity of the individual is compromised due to various conditions.
- (c)  and  (d)  A  new  skin  test  for  detecting  latent  TB  infection  has  been  developed  by  a  private agency  which  has  been  validated  by  ICMR  and  market  authorization  approval  accorded  by Drug Controller General of India (DGCI).
- (e)  and  (f)  To  address the challenges and achieve SDGs related to TB by 2025, the National TB Elimination programme implements key activities as under:
- State and District Specific Strategic plan for targeted interventions in high burden areas.
- Provision of free drugs and diagnostics to TB patients including for drug resistant TB.
- Active TB case finding campaign in key vulnerable and co-morbid population.
- Integration with Ayushman Bharat - Health & Wellness Centres to decentralize screening and treatment services closer to the community.
- Private sector engagement including incentives for notification and management of TB cases.
- Scale up of molecular diagnostic laboratories to sub-district levels.
- Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana for nutritional support to TB patients.
- Intensified IEC campaigns to reduce stigma, raise community awareness and improve health seeking behaviour.
- Multi-sectoral response with involvement of line ministries.
- Scale up TB preventive therapy to contacts of pulmonary TB.
- Tracking of notified TB cases through a case-based web-based portal namely Ni-kshay
- Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (PMTBMBA):
- o launched by the Ministry on 9 th September 2022 for community support to TB patients with the objective to provide people with TB with additional nutritional, diagnostic and vocational support
- o Ni-kshay 2.0 portal has been developed and made available in public domain for facilitating the community to register as Ni-kshay Mitra
- o Guidance documents have been developed and shared with all State/UTs to implement the initiative
- o Periodic reviews are done to monitor the progress of the initiative at National and State/UT levels

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