World TB Day (24th March)
This World TB day, Operation ASHA was honored by the city of Bhopal for its outstanding work in Tuberculosis treatment and prevention of MDR-TB. The DTC ended the World TB Day program by organizing a ‘Samapan aur samman samahroh’, where Operation ASHA was awarded a trophy and a certificate of honour.
“But success is not about awards and trophies,” says Sandeep Ahuja, Operation ASHA’s dynamic and dedicated CEO. “Our success lies in the fact that we have developed a patient-friendly, high impact, scalable and replicable model, and in our ability to deliver the entire gamut of TB-centric interventions, ie active case finding, education, and most importantly, prevention of MDR-TB. So we are impactful on both the fronts: patient wellness, and from a public health perspective.”
World TB Day, falling March 24th each year, is specifically celebrated to build public awareness among people about the global epidemic of tuberculosis and efforts being made to eliminate the disease. Today each year about 1.7 million people die of tuberculosis mostly in the Third world countries.
Operation ASHA celebrated World TB day by focusing on awareness, a much needed area. In the city of Sagar, distinguished Doctors, medical officer, STS and TBHV, school children, teachers and patients of Operation ASHA along with their family members participated in an informal face to face discussion on how to stop the spread of TB and how to overcome the harmful effects of medicines.
In Gwalior this important day was celebrated at Sofia Nursing College . It was a joint venture of RNTCP and Operation ASHA. Students were given intensive education about TB, what are the steps involved in its treatment, and the kind of nutrition one must adhere to during the treatment.
In Bhopal, a marathon race was organized in which the staff of Operation ASHA participated with full enthusiasm. Also a program named ‘Hastakshar Abhiyaan’ was carried out drawing large number of people who signed in support of the work being done to eradicate TB.
A bike rally was organized by RNTCP and Operation ASHA staff which passed through different slum areas in Indore spreading awareness about the importance of timely and accurate diagnosis of TB.
In Delhi Operation ASHA team along with volunteer teams from Pharma Secure, The India Ladies Circle, and BD Pharmaceuticals distributed shirts provided by the Partnership for TB Control and Care in India
Our team in Cambodia, led by Amandeep Singh, an LGT-VP fellow, did their bit to increase awareness and recruit more in our fight against tuberculosis.