in 201718 the first and second phases of the drive were conducted in six and 25 districts respectively and the third phase which ended on february 2018 covered all 75 districts of updr fauzdar added the rise in the number of people found to be infected is a good sign as it means local residents are coming forward to present their samples meerut from june 18 onwards as many as 153 teams of doctors and health officers will visit nearly 82070 houses in the city to examine 569 lakh people and collect sputum of those suspected to be suffering from tuberculosis tb in a doortodoor campaign the 10day long drive will end on june 28 this will be the first phase of active case finding for the financial year 201819 however during the drive the teams tend to cross the target of the number of people the drive is a part of a nationwide effort to eradicate the disease that has reemerged as a potent killer claiming more than 406 lakh lives in the country every year the pilot project kicked off from urban slums of meerut in august last year and the third phase was completed in february 2018dr as of december 2017 the number of tb patients in meerut was 6898 200 more than the 6698 cases reported in 2016 ms fauzdar district tuberculosis officer said as many as 153 teams have been formed to conduct a survey of 82070 homes where as many as 569 lakh people live during the three phases of 201718 as many as 357 cases of confirmed tuberculosis patients were reported i hope that more patients are discovered in this phase too which has 10 nodal officers and 30 supervisors a majority of patients who die due to tb are either unaware of it or dont go to doctors a total number of 63 colonies will be covered in the phase in areas including rajendra nagar zakir colony islamabad lakhipura shalimar garden and suroorpur among others aiming to root out the disease by 2025 the central government has instructed all the states to start active case finding which means health workers will approach the people directly to identify and treat such patients