Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya has been urged to provide anti-TB medications by Odisha Health and Family Welfare Minister Niranjan Pujari.
In a letter to Mandaviya on Monday, Pujari said, “…it is requested to kindly look into the matter urgently and take appropriate steps for early supply of TB drugs to the State.”
According to Pujari, the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) is a flagship initiative that prioritises early tuberculosis identification, treatment, and prevention. According to him, the State has been carrying out all of the actions and has previously produced positive outcomes.
The Central TB Division of the Government of India has not been providing enough anti-TB drugs since February 2023, according to the Odisha Health & Family Welfare, which has negatively impacted the State’s program implementation.
He mentioned that although the State Authorities occasionally imported pharmaceuticals to meet their needs, the Government of India’s supply of those drugs was woefully insufficient. The State attempted to obtain anti-TB medications locally, but the effort was fruitless because these treatments were not available in the local market, he continued. Pujari has stated that the Director of Public Health in Odisha and the Mission Director of the National Health Mission in Odisha have written letters and held multiple meetings and talks to bring the issue to the attention of the Government of India.
