Thursday, 12 December 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The district Health department with the district tuberculosis officer (DTO) in the lead has initiated a door-to-door tuberculosis screening programme for elderly individuals over 60 years as well as those who consume tobacco and alcohol. According to the officials of the department, teams have been formed in all the six development blocks of the district to carry out this screening.
The programme aims to identify the elderly individuals and high-risk patients, including tobacco users, alcohol addicts, diabetics and those who have been in contact with tuberculosis patients. The symptoms of the disease will be checked during the screening process which will conclude by March 17, 2025, they added.
The officials further informed that under the stewardship of the chief medical officer Dr Sanjay Jain and the district tuberculosis officer Dr Manoj Verma and with the support from medical officers in all blocks and urban areas, the programme will be implemented by ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists). They will conduct door-to-door campaigns and screenings of elderly individuals and other high-risk groups, collecting data and checking for tuberculosis symptoms through X-rays and sputum tests, they said.
They further informed that the teams comprising the community health officers, ASHA supervisors, ASHA lab technicians and ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwives) from Dehradun district had been formed and the screening work has already begun. Besides, Verma also provided necessary guidelines to the department teams regarding the precautions to be taken during the screening.
