Health Ministry of India to Provide Financial Support to TB Patients

The Centre is set to roll out financial support services to tuberculosis (TB) patients across India, providing Rs750 (12 USD) per month to each patient through direct benefit transfer, Livemint reports.

To avail of this monetary benefit, TB patients enrolled under the government’s Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program will have to produce their Aadhaar unique identity numbers and bank account details.

India currently does not have an over-arching mechanism in place to provide social and nutritional support to TB patients. A few states such as Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand have implemented measures including provision of cash benefits, nutritional supplements and counselling to assist patients in the fight against the disease.

The proposal for monetary support aimed at providing nutritional support was facing resistance from within the government, with the objections ranging from duplication of benefits for TB patients to release of too much. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2016, India had an estimated 2.79 million cases of TB.