Union Health Minister J P Nadda.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Monday announced giving Rs 1,000 each month to every tuberculosis patient for better nutritional support, doubling the allocation they receive at the moment.
Also, patients with low body-mass-index will receive energy-dense nutritional supplements for two months at the beginning of the treatment from government TB clinics and hospitals to improve their responses.
"The ministry has doubled the monthly nutrition support for TB patients from the existing Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month for all during the period of treatment as nutrition plays a pivotal role in treatment of the disease,” Union Health Minister J P Nadda said in a social media post.
For drug-sensitive TB patients, this means getting Rs 6,000 over six months as their treatment will last six months. But for drug-resistant patients, the enhanced allocation would continue as long as the treatment lasts, ministry sources told DH, adding that the enhancement would benefit 25 lakh patients in a year.
While India has a target of eliminating TB by 2025 – five years ahead of the UN target of 2030, the biggest bottleneck comes from drug-resistant cases.
According to the WHO’s Global TB Report 2023, the country has the highest drug-resistant TB burden in the world, with an estimated 110,000 new cases emerging annually.
For 12 lakh underweight patients (BMI less than 18.5 kg/sq mt at the time of diagnosis) who are more vulnerable, the government will provide nutritional supplements – therapeutic food rich in vitamins and minerals - for the first two months of their treatment.
“This will cost the government approximately an additional Rs 1,040 crore to be shared between the Center and States on a 60:40 basis”, Nadda said.
The budgetary enhancement in nutritional support comes a year after a major study, led by Indian TB researchers, established the importance of improved nutrition to reduce the incidence of infection and cut down mortality.
Nadda said the government distributed Rs 3,202 crore so far to 1.13 crore beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer so that they can get better nutrition during the treatment period.
"These measures are expected to aid nutritional recovery, improve response to treatment and outcomes and reduce mortality due to TB in India," he added.
Also, the existing programme of supporting a TB patient by providing him/her with nutritional food has been expanded to include the family members.