On the occasion of the World TB Day, the government has launched initiatives to eradicate tuberculosis by 2050 from the country.

GLOBAL health campaigns like grand goals. On January 30th Bill Gates joined the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), 13 drug-company executives and others in pledging to eradicate or control by 2020 ten of the world’s nastiest diseases, which afflict more than a billion people. Guinea worm, sleeping sickness, bilharzia (which doctors call schistosomiasis) and the others rot tissue and cripple the organs. Even if they do not kill, they stunt children and sap adults’ energies.

Of the 74 districts monitored in February, five reported 189 incidents of child mortality as compared to the preceding month when 157 children died in seven districts.

Also, 51 such deaths were recorded in seven districts in December, says a Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report issued here on Tuesday.

Child mortality refers to children who died before attaining five years of age.

While on average there were seven deaths per district in December and 22 in January, the month of February had on average 38 children dying before their 5th birthday.

Till now, doctors in the private sector were free to treat TB patients, and weren't required to keep a record. India has finally declared tuberculosis (TB) a notifiable disease. The announcement signifies that with immediate effect, all private doctors, caregivers and clinics treating a patient suffering from TB will have to report every single case of the air-borne disease to the government.

The notification was sent to all states on May 7. Till now, doctors in the private sector were free to treat TB patients, and weren't required to keep a record.

With cases of MDR and XDR tuberculosis being reported from various parts of the country, the Union Health Ministry has decided to make TB a notifiable disease. This means any institution, government or private, which sees a new tuberculosis patient, will have to mandatorily inform designated health authorities about the case and its treatment.

The proposal was approved by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad last week and sources say the order will be issued any day now.

MUMBAI: The National Tuberculosis Institute (NTI) in Bangalore has validated Hinduja Hospital's January report about total drug resistance in eight TB patients. A copy of the report was sent to the state TB department on Monday. "The DOTS-plus (Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse ) team will discuss the re por t on Wednesday," said state TB officer Dr P Gaikwad. The validation will change little for the patients. "We may change some drugs or injections for some patients," said a civic official.

After Haryana ban, illegal mining shifts to Sikar’s hills
Who’s The Quarry?

More than 400 active leases in the Sikar belt
1,200 trucks move out of Rajasthan Aravallis daily
In Dabla alone, 50 ha of land mined
Area has five small rivers, three clogged with sludge.

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Heartened by the success rate of the new laboratories across Maharashtra in testing multi-drug resistant tuberculosis samples (MDR-TB), authorities of the state TB control programme are toying with the idea of setting up a similar detection centre for a more virulent strain — the extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB — at the city’s JJ Hospital.