National Forum on Tuberculosis: First Meeting

The National Forum on TB,launched on May 8 2013, conducted its first meeting to discuss the critical need for accurate TB diagnostics and challenges of drug-resistant TB in India. TB kills 300,000 people every year in India.

August 27 2013, New Delhi: The National Forum on Tuberculosis held its first meeting in the capital today. The members of the Forum deliberated upon the increased need to introduce new and more accurate diagnostics for TB to ensure timely and appropriate diagnosis. The members also discussed the rise and challenges of drug-resistant TB in India. The Chief Guest at this meeting was Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development and the Guest of Honour was Smt. Santosh Chowdhary, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. Dr.Soumya Swaminathan, Director, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) made a presentation at the meeting on the emergence of drug-resistant TB as well as the challenges of the Indian TB diagnostic landscape.

The Forum was launched on May 8, 2013 with the vision to discuss and highlight critical challenges in TB prevention and control.The launch also saw the release of a Handbook on TB in India.The National Forum on TB will work to raise awareness on the need for improved TB control. The members of the Forum will meet several times in a year to discuss critical challenges in TB control. Based on these discussions, the members will formulate key recommendations to address these challenges which will then be presented to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) for further action.
The Forum consists of an advisory board comprising leading Members of the parliament (MPs). This meeting brought together parliamentarians, policymakers, technical experts, civil society representatives as well as government officials.
Mr. Dalbir Singh, Convener of the Forum commented, 㔨e Forum is dedicated to fight TB and as a first vital step, this meeting has brought together key stakeholders including parliamentarians, policymakers, civil society organizations and technical experts, who are committed to the cause. We are resolved to achieve enhanced TB prevention and control in India.伯b>
TB kills 1 Indian every 2 minutes. India bears the highest burden of TB in the world- 2.3 million annually. This accounts for one-fifth of the global disease burden. TB is the cause of extensive economic losses leading to individual, family and community suffering.TB is also associated with a deep-seated stigma that often leads to discrimination within the workplace and the community.
As representatives of the worldⳠlargest democracy, policy makers, parliamentarians and the civil society play a pivotal role in influencing policy decisions. The Forum will aim to leverage this power to make an impact on the TB landscape in India.

Also please find attached event pictures and both Hindi and English press release.