The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the National Conference on TB and Allied Diseases (NATCON) at Rashtrapati Bhavan Auditorium today (February 23, 2014).

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that global TB control is unattainable without controlling the incidence of TB in India. Nearly 20 years after WHO’s declaration of Tuberculosis as a global public health emergency, major progress has been made towards attainment of the global targets defined in the context of the Millennium Development Goals. India has been an able partner in this progress.

The President stated that the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) has become one of India’s largest public health achievements. The endeavor should now be to aim for universal access focusing on improved diagnosis of TB patients through improving outreach, vigorously expanding case-finding efforts among vulnerable sections of the society, deploying better diagnostics, and extending services to patients diagnosed and treated in both the public and private sectors. He said that the emphasis also has to be on improving patient-friendly access to high-quality treatment for all diagnosed cases of TB, including scaling-up treatment for Multi-Drug Resistant-TB nationwide. He called upon all stakeholders to commit themselves to continue to do their best for instituting health care systems in the country which are equitable, affordable and accessible by all sections of the society.