Latest news with #TB
Hans India
an hour ago
- Health
- Hans India
Officials told to prioritise early detection for TB elimination
Vijayawada: Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Wednesday emphasised that early identification and prompt treatment are crucial to achieving the national goal of Tuberculosis (TB) elimination. During a meeting at Raj Bhavan, state and Central government officials presented an overview of the 'TB-Mukt Bharat Abhiyan' (TB-Free India Campaign) implementation in Andhra Pradesh to the Governor. Governor Abdul Nazeer underscored the importance of strengthening community engagement through 'Jan Bhagidari' (people's participation) activities. He also stressed the need for inter-departmental convergence to ensure the effective eradication of TB across the state. Demonstrating his commitment to the initiative, the Governor registered his name on the Ni-kshay portal, receiving an ID card from the officials present. Dr Bhawani Singh Kushwaha, TB officer, CTD; Dr D Dharma Rao, national consultant (Ni-kshay Mitra Initiative) and Dr T Ramesh, joint director, TB, briefed the Governor on the comprehensive steps being undertaken for the successful implementation of the TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan in the state. Following the briefing, Dr M Hari Jawaharlal, ex officio secretary to the Governor, handed over a cheque of Rs 84,000 to the officials. This amount, provided on behalf of the Governor, is earmarked for the distribution of nutrition baskets to 20 TB patients, aiming to support their recovery and well-being. P S Suryaprakash, joint secretary to Governor; Gangadhar Das, public health specialist, CTD; Dr Bhanu Naik, DLAT officer, NTR district; Dr T Dheeraj, WHO consultant; and Dr V Jaswanth Kumar, MO, TB-HIV also participated.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
2.3 lakh persons identified as suspected TB cases in screening campaign
Jaipur: In the state, 2.3 lakh people were found with Tuberculosis (TB) symptoms during screening campaign launched on June 25, 2025. These suspected cases were referred to health institutions for confirmation of their TB diseases. Since June 25, 2025, as part of the active tuberculosis case detection campaign, 74 lakh (44 percent) highly vulnerable individuals were screend at their homes. The campaign aims to reach 1.6 crore vulnerable population. The screening campaign will continue until July 21, 2025, aiming to quickly identify hidden TB cases and provide timely free treatment. It involves screening individuals including people living with HIV/AIDS, diabetes patients, those over 60 years, malnourished individuals, smokers and alcohol consumers, migrant workers, tribal communities, recovered TB patients, and those living in mining and construction sites, jails, and urban slums. To ensure the screening of highly vulnerable populations, responsibilities were assigned to officials at the state and district levels, with daily progress reviews. This door-to-door TB symptom detection campaign in Rajasthan is a decisive step towards the national TB eradication goal. In the state, 3,350 village panchayats were declared TB-free in 2024, enhancing community awareness and participation, said a health department official. Rajasthan ranks third nationwide in this campaign. So far, 35,117 Nikshay Mitras have been registered, providing nutritional, mental, and essential support to TB patients. In 2024, the health department notified a total of 171,415 TB patients in the state. By June 2025, 89,132 TB patients were notified.
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
TB Free India: 20% population to be screened in Nagpur's high-risk zones
Nagpur: As part of the nationwide TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (TB Free India Project), Nagpur district is currently conducting an intensive 100-day active case-finding campaign to detect and treat suspected TB cases at the earliest. Under this campaign, it is planned to survey approximately 20% of the district's population, with a sharp focus on high-risk groups and vulnerable communities. According to health officials, the survey teams — comprising community health officers, health workers, and Asha volunteers — are screening people in areas identified as high-risk, including mental health institutions, mining areas, district jails, tribal regions, migrant settlements, brick kiln sites, urban slums, old-age homes, residential schools (ashram shalas), industrial zones, and other crowded public spaces. District collector Vipin Itankar and chief executive officer of the zilla parishad, Vinayak Mahamuni, have appealed to all stakeholders to ensure that the campaign achieves its goals with 100% coverage. "Early detection and prompt treatment are crucial to breaking the chain of TB transmission. The support of private practitioners, NGOs, and community leaders is vital in making Nagpur district TB-free ahead of the national deadline," said Mahamuni. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like We Can't Believe She Wore That To The Red Carpet Golfhooked Read More Undo Instructions to this effect have been issued to the Nagpur chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), asking private practitioners and hospitals to coordinate closely with the District TB Office to ensure 100% notification of patients receiving treatment for TB. TB remains one of the leading infectious diseases in India, with an estimated 27 lakh new cases notified nationwide in 2023. Maharashtra is among the states with a significant TB burden, and districts like Nagpur play a critical role in achieving the country's elimination targets. Public health experts stress that eliminating TB not only saves lives but also has significant socio-economic benefits, reducing the disease's toll on vulnerable populations and minimising treatment costs for families. The district administration has urged citizens to cooperate with survey teams, undergo screening if approached, and immediately seek medical attention if they experience symptoms like a persistent cough lasting more than two weeks, unexplained weight loss, fever, or night sweats.
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
New health rules in Dubai: Medical tests now required for visas, jobs, and driving licences
Medical screening becomes mandatory in Dubai for visas, jobs, and driving licences from July 2025/ Representative Image TL;DR Starting end of July 2025, medical tests are mandatory for visa, work, and licence applications in Dubai. Tests must be done through approved health centers and focus on infectious diseases like HIV and TB. Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will manage the system and enforce penalties for those who don't comply. From the end of July 2025, you'll need to pass a medical test before you can get or renew a visa, apply for a job, or hold a driving licence in Dubai. The new rule applies to most adults, whether you're moving to the city for work or already living here. This is part of a broader health law signed off by Dubai's leadership. It gives more control to the Dubai Health Authority to oversee these medical checks and manage the city's public health efforts. The focus is early detection, safer workplaces, and reducing the spread of diseases. These changes will affect a lot of people, expats, workers, families, professional drivers, and companies hiring talent from abroad. The tests aren't optional. And skipping them comes with heavy fines. What You'll Need to Do 1. Take a Medical Fitness Test Before applying or renewing any of the following, you'll need to take a medical test: Residence visa Work permit Driving licence (new or renewal) Professional drivers and delivery workers are also included. 2. Go Through DHA-Approved Clinics You can't just go to any clinic. The tests have to be done at medical centers approved by the Dubai Health Authority. These centers will follow strict procedures to make sure results are reliable. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Đây có thể là thời điểm tốt nhất để giao dịch vàng trong 5 năm qua IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo 3. Tests Will Screen for Specific Conditions Right now, the key focus is on: Infectious diseases like HIV and tuberculosis Other conditions may be added later, depending on public health needs This is all aimed at keeping high-risk illnesses under control. What the DHA Will Now Oversee The Dubai Health Authority will take on more responsibility and have greater control under the new law. 1. Setting the Rules: They'll decide the testing standards, the medical protocols, and which clinics qualify. 2. Raising Awareness: Expect to see more health campaigns about: Mental health Drug and alcohol prevention Health checks for youth, elderly, and pregnant women 3. Community Care Programs: The law also covers longer-term care: Prenatal and postnatal support Vaccinations for kids Annual screenings for adults So while the medical test rule is the headline, the law has a bigger goal: long-term prevention. What Happens If You Don't Follow the Rules There are real penalties. Here's what we know so far: Fines start at AED 500 Can go up to AED 1 million, depending on the case Repeat the offense within 12 months? The fine could double, up to AED 2 million The Executive Council is expected to publish more detailed guidelines on enforcement soon. What It Means for You This isn't just bureaucracy. It's about creating a baseline of health safety across the city. It's also a reminder that the days of skipping regular health checks are over, especially if you live and work in Dubai. Employers will need to update HR processes. Workers will need to plan for medical appointments as part of visa renewals. Families and long-term residents will see more structured health care, especially for children and the elderly. It's not meant to complicate things, it's meant to protect everyone. FAQs 1. Who needs to take the medical test? Anyone applying for or renewing a residence visa, work permit, or driving licence in Dubai. This includes professional drivers and service workers. 2. What diseases will they test for? The main focus is on infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV. Other conditions could be added depending on public health needs. 3. What happens if I skip the test or go to a non-approved clinic? You could face a fine starting at AED 500. In serious or repeated cases, fines can reach AED 2 million.
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Health
- TimesLIVE
SA gets R520m to buy the twice-a-year anti-HIV jab — but there's a snag
South Africa has accepted an offer of just over $29m (about R520m) from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria to buy the twice-a-year anti-HIV jab, lenacapavir, that research shows could help to end Aids in the country, says health department spokesperson Foster Mohale. But there's a snag. The country isn't getting extra money from the fund to buy the medicine; it has to use cash from a grant that it has already been awarded and that was cut by 16% in June. Moreover, the fund, at this stage, won't tell the health department — or any of the other eight countries it has selected for early rollout — how much they're paying lenacapavir's maker, Gilead Sciences, for the product. Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, the CEO of the country's medicine regulator, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra), told Bhekisisa it aims to have lenacapavir registered in South Africa before the end of the year. According to the health department's head of procurement, Khadija Jamaloodien, the lenacapavir funds from the Global Fund will become available in October, when the rollout period of South Africa's next grant, known as Grant Cycle 7, kicks in. But rollout — likely in early 2026 — can only start once Sahpra has registered the medicine, the country's essential medicines list committee has reviewed and recommended lenacapavir, procurement processes are in place and health workers and clinics have all they need to hand the drug safely to patients. Two studies released last year showed the medicine completely protects young women from contracting the virus and works almost as well for men, transgender and gender-nonbinary people. In fact, a modelling study shows that if between two and four million HIV-negative people in South Africa use the jab every year over the next eight years, the medication could end Aids as a public health threat by 2032. Ending Aids as a public health threat means reaching a stage where fewer people are getting newly infected with HIV than the number of people with HIV who are dying (increasingly for other reasons than HIV, for example old age). According to the latest Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids) report, which was released last week, 170,000 people got newly infected with HIV in 2024, while there were 53,000 Aids-related deaths. The Global Fund money for South Africa is, however, not nearly enough to put two to four million people per year in South Africa on the lenacapavir jab — and even if it was, the country's health system won't be able to roll the medicine out that fast, scientists and policymakers say. Will the US help to pay for the jab? The fund's offer follows the body's announcement on July 9, that it has the 'ambition' to finance enough lenacapavir for two million HIV-negative people — in the low- and middle-income countries it supports — over the next three years. But fulfilling this ambition will depend on whether the governments of wealthy countries give enough money to the Fund in its next replenishment round. The US government's Aids fund, Pepfar, was originally going to help to pay to roll out lenacapavir in poorer countries. And, though some activists say it's still possible for the US administration to come on board (lenacapavir is mentioned in President Donald Trump's budget proposal for the next financial year, but is understood to be only for pregnant and breastfeeding women), it's not clear at all how this might happen after the Trump administration's drastic cuts to funding for HIV projects in countries including South Africa this year. The Global Fund's offer, however, is a way to get branded, 'bridging' doses from Gilead to South Africa while the world waits for cheaper generics to become available around 2027. 'We now stand at a moment of reckoning and a moment of choice,' Mitchell Warren, the executive director of the international advocacy organisation, Avac, told Bhekisisa at the 13th conference on HIV science in Kigali this week. 'While a lot of the choices over the last six months have been made by an American politician [Donald Trump] who doesn't care about the pandemic or science generally, our choice is to make decisions based on the science that we all now know. Which is that lenacapavir is our most potent opportunity.' Countries have to budget just under R600 per dose Jamaloodien, however, cautions further discussions with the Global Fund and Gilead will be needed about the governance around the pricing of the product. 'We have a transparent pricing system, guided by the Public Finance Management Act. Even if we procure medicine with Global Fund money, we have to follow the same rules that the Treasury requires us to follow with tenders, which includes revealing the price at which the medicine is bought,' Jamaloodien says.
