Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Becton Dickinson (BD) India have teamed up at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi to raise awareness on tuberculosis. This was to drive home the theme ‘Reach. Treat. Cure Everyone’ of the World TB Day observed annually on March 24.

Over 300 students participated in a 3-km marathon to express solidarity with TB patients. The run was flagged off by Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi and Professor Sarman Singh and at the JL Auditorium, AIIMS campus. This is the second year of TB awareness initiative that is being driven by Professor Sarman Singh, Head-Clinical Microbiology and Molecular Medicine Department, AIIMS and BD India.

“Early identification and treatment of TB is the key to prevent further spread . Our aim is to reach out to every TB patient and urge them to access a nearby government health centres if symptoms of like cough and fever for more than 2 weeks are manifested, said Prof Singh.

A day-long symposium was attended by experts included Dr. KS Sachdeva, CTD, RNTCP, Dr. Amita Jain, KGMC Lucknow, along with AIIMS’ team of Dr. GC Khilnani, Dr. AB Dey, and Dr. PN Dogra, who opined that India needed to generate its own data to assess efficacy of various diagnostic tests. The Chief-Guest on the occasion was Dr.VM Katoch, Former Secretary & DG-ICMR, DHR, Government of India.

“Left untreated, each person with active TB may infect on average between 10 and 15 people annually. In 2013, the World Health Organization identified 3 million missing TB cases globally of which 1 million were from India. We are committed to responding to the needs of those affected with TB. This is our second annual awareness campaign at the AIIMS campus,” said Varun Khanna, managing director, BD India.