The University Grants Commission has requested higher education institutions and their affiliated colleges to take an active part in creating awareness about the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP).
In a letter dated November 7, the UGC wrote that the NTEP is being implemented throughout the country by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), as part of the National Health Mission (NHM).
The letter states that under NTEP, all TB patients who have been notified by public and private sector health facilities/doctors are eligible for free diagnostics and treatment, as well as Rs 500 per month in nutrition assistance via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
UGC further mentioned that MoHFW recently launched the ‘Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (PMTBMBA)’ together with NTEP to facilitate enhanced community engagement in eliminating TB by 2025.
Ni-kshay 2.0, an exclusive website for registration of Ni-kshay Mitra (Donors) and online link-up of such Ni-kshay Mitras with TB patients, has been created to ensure its proper implementation.
Interested officers/organizations can register as Ni-kshay Mitras and choose the area/number of TB patients they want to adopt and support, the type of support they can provide (nutritional/vocational/additional diagnostics), and the duration of their availability, a minimum duration being six months & maximum being three years.
In related news, Bhupinder Kumar, Secretary of Health and Medical Education, on Wednesday called for a meeting at the Civil Secretariat in Jammu and Kashmir to review progress on the execution of NTEP. While addressing the meeting, Kumar emphasised the importance of the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme in eradicating tuberculosis from the UT by or before 2025, reported Greater Kashmir.
He encouraged the officers to make ‘Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat’ their primary duty towards the welfare of citizens and to make this campaign a mass movement. He also instructed the Director of Health Services, Jammu and Kashmir, to step up efforts to register Ni-kshay Mitras on the Ni-kshay 2.0 portal.
