09 Sep 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan
2. Swachh Amrit Mahotsav

1. Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

Syllabus: GS 2, Social justice.

Prelims: Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.

Mains: Issues relating to the development and management of services relating to health.

Context: President of India launches Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. 

Details:

• Among all other infectious diseases, TB is responsible for the maximum number of deaths in India.
• It should be noted that with little less than 20 percent of the world’s population, India has more than 25 percent of the total TB patients in the world.
• Moreover, the majority of the people affected by TB belong to the poor sections of society.
• As per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, every country should eradicate TB by 2030. But the Government of India is committed to eradicating TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global goal. This vision was first articulated at the Delhi End TB Summit in the year 2018.
• The treatment of TB is accessible and effective. The government of India provides a free-of-cost facility for the prevention and treatment of TB.
• The object of Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan is to bring together all the stakeholders in support of those on treatment and accelerate the nation’s progress in eliminating it.

Ni-kshay Mitra initiative:

• The Ni-kshay Mitra initiative was also launched by the President, to ensure additional diagnostic, vocational, and nutritional support to those undergoing treatment. It was urged that all citizens should become Ni-kshay Mitras and convene gatherings to discuss the initiative. It will ensure that no one with the disease is left behind. 
• The President also encouraged corporates, NGOs, elected representatives, and individuals to come forward as donors and help TB patients in completing their journey towards recovery. 
• The Ni-kshay digital portal will provide a platform for community support to patients with TB.
• The Ni-kshay 2.0 portal is additional support to improve the treatment outcome of TB patients. It would also augment community participation and leverage Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities to achieve the target of ending TB by 2025.
• Out of the total 13.5 lakh TB patients registered in the Nikshay portal, approximately 9 lakh active TB patients have given their consent for adoption. 

Also read: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis. July 6th, 2022 CNA. Download PDF

National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP):

• The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) was renamed as National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) in 2020 to emphasize the aim of the Government of India to eliminate TB in India by 2025.
• Its object is to strategically reduce the TB burden in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals. 
• It is responsible for carrying out the Government of India’s five-year National Strategic Plans for TB elimination.
• NTEP has reached over a billion people in around 632 districts/reporting units.
• It is a multi-pronged approach that aims to detect all TB patients with special emphasis on patients seeking private care and undiagnosed TB cases in high-risk populations.
• The program identified 12,000 TB champions to reach out to the marginalized and underserved and support patients to access care. 
• The programme has also created Patient Support Groups (PSGs) to facilitate conversations between patients, doctors, and caregivers.

Other initiatives associated with TB elimination:

• Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana: It helps in meeting the nutritional requirements of TB patients, particularly the underserved.
• Patient-Provider Support Agencies (PPSA): It was launched to engage the private sector. It was rolled in nearly 250 districts.
• The JEET initiative: It led to notifying 32% of TB patients from the private sector.
• Building on Universal Drug Susceptibility Testing (UDST) for all diagnosed TB cases, the programme has added approximately 3,760 NAAT machines across the country to ensure timely diagnoses of patients with drug-resistant TB and place them under the correct treatment regime.

For more on Nikshay Poshan Yojana, read here: Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) – India Tuberculosis Report

2. Swachh Amrit Mahotsav

Syllabus: GS 2, Polity and Governance.

Prelims: Swachh Amrit Mahotsav.

Mains: Government policies and interventions for the development of various sectors.

Context: MOHUA rolls out ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’. 

Details:

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) has launched ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav’ to celebrate eight years of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban which was launched in 2014.
• It is a fortnight of activities to galvanize action around swachhata (cleanliness). The aim of the initiative is to focus on mobilizing citizens towards the vision of building ‘Garbage Free Cities’.
• The official logo for the event, ‘Swachh Amrit Mahotsav: Ek Aur Kadam Swachhata Ki Ore’ was also released. The logo signifies the resolve to reinvigorate and intensify the ‘Jan Andolan’ in the world’s largest sanitation drive.

Source: Press Information Bureau

Indian Swachhata League:

• In line with the vision of harnessing the energy of the youth for positive action, the opening of the first ever ‘Indian Swachhata League’ (ISL) was announced.
• It is an inter-city competition between the youth of the cities.
• Around 1,850 city teams from all over the country have officially registered to compete in the maiden edition of ISL. Each team will compete by creating its own unique sanitation initiative and ensuring garbage-free hills, beaches, and tourist places in their respective cities.
• It is reported that 47 out of the 61 million plus cities and 20 State capitals will join the swachhata race.
• Cities with diverse geographies and iconic tourist locations like Dwarka, Gaya, Kanyakumari, Kohima,  Konark, Leh, Pahalgam, Nashik, Port Blair, Rameswaram, Ujjain,  Varanasi, etc. have already registered their teams for the competition.
• Citizens are also invited to join their respective city teams.
• Various other interesting initiatives like the Toycathon – Making toys from waste, Start-Up Challenge Forum,  Swachh Seher Samvad, etc. have also been lined up during the fortnight. These events will ultimately culminate on 2nd Oct., Gandhi Jayanti, with the observation of Swachh Bharat Diwas.

Also read: 25 Jun 2022: PIB Summary for UPSC: Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0

Read previous PIB here.

September 9th, 2022, PIB:- Download PDF Here