gurugram the nikshay mitra scheme has finally taken off in the city with the adoption of 2019 tuberculosis tb patients registered with the health department by a private hospital which will enable them get nutritious food delivered at home the initiative was launched by the centre across the country on september 9 with the aim to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025 the objective of the programme is to enrol volunteers individuals or organisations to support tb patients in bridging the gap in tb care services under it tb patients will get food at their doorstep for the next six months all the tb patients registered with the government will be able to get free food at their doorstep within three weeks this regimen will help them get all the required nutrients and medicines which will decrease the chances of a relapse it is important that the patients take a balanced diet along with medicines to recover from tb said virender yadav the chief medical officer of gurugram he added that the interventions at the community level to ensure eradication of tb include awareness outreach to engage marginalised or remote groups screening detection counselling treatment and follow up till the patient is completely curedthe city has a total of 4636 tb patients out of whom 2718 had sought community help under the nikshay mitra programme in the first phase 2019 patients getting treatment at government health facilities have been adopted while the rest will eventually get help so far 777 nikshay mitras have enrolled in the state while it has 42579 tb patients this drive is critical for haryana as it was ranked fourth in the country in the national tb prevalence survey 20192021 as per the survey haryana has 465 tb cases per 1 lakh people under the nikshay mitra programme fortis healthcare has joined hands with the government to contribute towards the eradication of tuberculosis currently our team of doctors and dieticians across the country are charting a diet plan keeping in mind the nutritional needs to ensure a good and balanced diet for the patients also we are working closely with district and state tb officers and civil surgeons the proposed programme will go live in three to four weeks said mahipal singh bhanot seniorvice president and business head fortis hospitalaccording to the world health organization tb is one of the top 10 causes of deaths worldwide and the leading cause from a single infectious agent the symptoms of tb include cough for more than two weeks haemoptysis fever in the evening weight loss and loss of appetite