Modi also laid the foundation stone of the National Centre for Disease Control & High Containment Laboratory and inaugurated the site for the Metropolitan Public Health Surveillance Unit in Varanasi.
Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the ‘One World TB Summit’ at the Rudrakash Convention Centre in Varanasi. He also launched various initiatives, including the TB-Mukt Panchayat, the official pan-India rollout of a shorter TB Preventive Treatment (TPT), the Family-centric care model for TB and the release of India’s Annual TB Report 2023.
Modi also laid the foundation stone of the National Centre for Disease Control & High Containment Laboratory and inaugurated the site for the Metropolitan Public Health Surveillance Unit in Varanasi. The Prime Minister also awarded select states/UTs and districts for their progress towards ending TB. The recipients of the awards were Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir on the state/UT level and The Nilgiris, Pulwama and Anantnag at the district level.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister expressed delight that the One World TB Summit is taking place in Varanasi and noted that he is also a Member of Parliament from this city. He underlined that the city of Kashi is like an eternal stream that has witnessed the hard work and efforts of humanity for thousands of years.
“No matter the obstacle, Kashi has always proved that new ways are created with ‘Sabka Prayas’ (everyone’s effort),” he remarked. He expressed confidence that Kashi will usher new energy towards global resolutions in the fight against a disease like TB.
The Prime Minister highlighted that as a country, the reflection of India’s ideology can be seen in the spirit of Vasudev Kutumbakam i.e. the whole world is one family. This ancient ideology, the Prime Minister said, is giving an integrated vision and integrated solutions to the advanced world of today.
He noted that as the G20 President, India chose the theme of ‘One Family, One World, One Future’ based on such beliefs. “The theme of G20 is a resolution for the shared future of the entire world,” the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister noted that India is forwarding the vision of ‘One Earth, One Health’ in the world and underlined that it is realizing the resolutions of global good with the One World TB Summit.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of Stop TB, Dr Lucica Ditiu, said the summit is taking place in one of the oldest cities in the world, Varanasi, to discuss a thousand-year-old disease in the world i.e. Tuberculosis or TB. She said that India has a very high burden of TB but with the best plan, ambition and great implementation of activities.
She also underlined the global welfare embrace of India’s G-20 Presidency and explained the importance of the theme – One World One Health. She said that India is on the road to ending TB by 2025 under the leadership of the Prime Minister. She said due to the efforts of countries like India, the number of people who are not getting diagnosis and treatment for TB has gone below 3 million for the first time in history.
She praised India’s scale in tackling TB and the TB Free India initiative and expressed the belief that India will end TB by 2025 with India’s support. She also informed about the UN high-level meeting on TB taking place on September 22 during the UN General Assembly in New York and also requested the Prime Minister’s presence in the meeting. She also urged the Prime Minister to lead and inspire other world leaders in this fight against TB.
