The Government of India launched the nationwide ‘TB Mukt Panchayat’ campaign on March 24, 2023, aiming to leverage local self-governance to eradicate tuberculosis. The initiative infuses much needed political will at the grassroots level to achieve the target of eliminating TB by 2025. However, experts stress the need to customize the program to address local nuances for maximum efficacy. An analyses by community and public health experts published in the Lancet journal identify areas for improvement. One of the authors Dr. Swathi Krishnan, Assistant Professor at Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune, offers invaluable insights into optimizing the initiative and galvanizing community involvement to accelerate India’s TB elimination efforts, surpassing the SDG target of 2030.

Watch the interview here:

Read the Lancet Southeast Asia article here:

“How can the TB Mukt Panchayat initiative contribute towards ending tuberculosis in India?”