The Uttar Pradesh government has made efforts to provide essential nutritional support to tuberculosis patients under the Centre's Nikshay Nutrition scheme by spending Rs 2.78 lakh in 2023 according to the Chief Minister's office.
According to ANI, there are over 4.16 lakh TB patients in Uttar Pradesh who are undergoing treatment currently.
The Nikshay Nutrition scheme aims to protect the patients fighting tuberculosis from malnutrition with the provision of nutritious food and the scheme also targets to make the state TB-free by 2025.
The Head of the Pulmonary Department of SGPGI, Dr Zia Hashim spoke to ANI who said, "While taking numerous TB medicines, the patient needs nutritious food for support." She also mentioned that the efforts by the Uttar Pradesh government have benefitted the patients who are receiving nutritious meals, community support, and encouragement.
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The report also speaks about a patient named Anno who was severely malnourished and after being diagnosed with TB, her body could not bear the heat of the medicine. That is when she used the Nikshay Nutrition Scheme and eventually recovered from TB.
The report also talks about a resident of Sahadatganj named Ismat Fatima who was also diagnosed with TB but having nutritional staus alright, she recovered after six months of treatment.
A statement said, "The cases of Anno and Ismat are examples illustrating the important role of maintaining adequate nutritional levels in the recovery process of TB patients seeking to regain their health and freedom from the disease. Lancet has recently published this fact in its report. This trial highlights the importance of providing nutritional support to family members for TB prevention."
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Nutritional support has led to a remarkable reduction in all types of tuberculosis by 40 per cent and in infectious tuberculosis in family members of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis by about 50 per cent in a study involving more than 10,000 family members.
