President Mukherjee Urges Citizens To Help Remove Scourge Of TB

24 March, New Delhi

President Pranab Mukherjee has urged all the citizens to work unitedly to bring an end to the scourge of Tuberculosis in the country.

In his message on World Tuberculosis Day, Mukherjee said, TB is a major health problem, which afflicts mainly the young and working population of the country. He said, it is unfortunate that in India even today one person dies every two minutes due to this menacing disease.

The President said, there is urgent need to build public awareness about the curability and prevention of the disease. He also stressed for up-scaling research and development in the treatment regime for the disease.

Mukherjee expressed happiness that the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme has been able to test 86 million persons, treat 19 million patients and save 3.4 million lives since its inception in 1993.

He called upon all stakeholders to rededicate their efforts for achievement of the goal of Zero TB deaths in the country in the shortest possible time.