New Delhi [India], October 7 : Union Health Ministry has doubled the monthly nutrition support for Tuberculosis patients from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 under the Ni-Kshay Poshan Yojana, union health minister JP Nadda confirmed on Monday.
Highlighting the decision in a post on X, he said, "Union Health Ministry has doubled the monthly nutrition support under Ni-Kshay Poshan Yojana from the existing Rs500 to Rs1000 per month for all TB patients, during the period of treatment."
Additionally, he also highlighted that the government has approved an additional allocation of Rs 1040 crores for TB patients under the Ni-Kshay Poshan Yojana.
Further highlighting the help given to family members and household contacts of TB patients, he said that all the people will be covered under the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Reiterating the government's commitment to a "TB Mukt Bharat" he wrote, "India is resolute and committed to #TBMuktBharat under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji. Nutrition plays a pivotal role in treatment of the disease. In view of this, a landmark decision has been taken to strengthen the TB warriors in their fight against the disease.
On September 25, Union minister of State, Anupriya Patel highlighted the severity of tuberculosis and across the world, and advocated for innovative TB vaccines during her keynote address at an event on sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In her address, Patel highlighted India's role as the chair of the Stop TB Partnership Board and reiterated the nation's commitment to eliminating TB as a public health problem by 2030. She said that India's TB program has become a "model for the world."
"India is progressing against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) at a far greater pace than the global average, with a decline in TB incidence by 16 per cent from 237 per hundred thousand population in 2015 to 199 in 2022 and a decline of 18 per cent in TB deaths from 28 per hundred thousand population in 2015 to 23 in 2022," she said.