Mandaviya to inaugurate Step-Up to End TB - World TB Day Summit on March 24

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday will inaugurate the "Step-Up to End TB- World TB Day Summit" on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The chief guest at the Summit will be the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel, who will attend virtually.

Leading discussions from the front, she will bring to light India's accelerated pace of innovations and achievements for eliminating TB by 2025.

The Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar will also be present at the summit.

Earlier in 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Delhi End TB summit and gave the clarion call to End TB in India by 2025, five years ahead of the TB-related SDG targets of 2030.

The summit is not only a follow-up to 2018 that gauges how far - and to what degree - India has progressed in its journey to TB elimination but it is also a reiteration of India's TB commitments, and an effort to assemble the right minds as the country moves forward to meet its TB elimination objectives, according to an official statement issued by Health Ministry.

It will provide a forum to showcase the National TB Elimination Programme's learnings and successes and frame it in a manner that inspires more forward-looking policies across infectious diseases, and not just TB alone.

From vaccine development to the need for greater inter-departmental or ministerial and inter-state collaborations, the event aims to be an incubator for TB mitigation ideas that are disruptive and cognizant of changing post-COVID world order.

At the event, Union Health Minister will award well-performing states and districts for achieving improved levels of TB elimination. A TB survivor will share her story and journey of overcoming this disease.

He will also lead a session eliciting experience-sharing and commitments to intensify elimination efforts at the state and district level, with parallel sessions for states to present their best practices.

After that, the summit will lead into a session on findings from the to-be-released National TB Prevalence Survey results, with an eye for India's action plan for achieving SDG elimination targets.

To give an experiential look into the TB landscape, development partner organizations will present select exhibitions on innovative program practices, and give attendees a keen look into India's future of becoming TB-free through a whole-of-society approach.

To be held over two days, this Summit will be attended by Health Ministers from various states, State Health officials, and other key stakeholders working on the issue of TB elimination in India. (ANI)