Goaltide Daily Current Affairs 2020

Jun 26, 2020

Current Affair 1:
India TB Report 2020

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We are presenting this report keeping in mind your Prelims and Mains both. Read. Do complete reading.

Before proceeding to report, read the below paragraph.

We will start from here, National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme.

National TB Elimination Programme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme being implemented under the aegis of National Health Mission with resource sharing between the State Governments and the Central Government.

Structure of National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme

TB Surveillance and Epidemiology

India is the highest TB burden country in the world having an estimated incidence of 26.9 lakh cases in 2019 (WHO). To address this, the ability to achieve complete surveillance coverage is the prerequisite. 2019 marks another milestone year for TB surveillance effort in India, with a record high notification of 24 Lakh cases; an increase of over 12% as compared to 2018. Of the 24 lakh TB cases 90% (N=21.6 lakhs) were incident TB cases (New and Relapse/ Recurrent).

Similar to trends in the previous years, over half of the total notifications are contributed by the five states namely Uttar Pradesh (20%), Maharashtra (9%), Madhya Pradesh (8%), Rajasthan (7%) and Bihar (7%).

Movement of patients is a critical aspect to consider when trying to ensure that all notified cases are on treatment without interruptions and complete treatment successfully. Through Nikshay, the National TB Elimination Programme has built a system to track such movement and enable field staff to follow up such patients effectively

Active Case Finding

The burden of undetected tuberculosis is large in many settings, especially in high-risk groups which are identified under the country’s National Strategic Plan (2017-25).

Active TB Case Finding activities began under National TB Elimination Programme in 2017. In 2019 a total of about 27.74 crore population has been screened yielding 62,958 additional TB cases were diagnosed.

Treatment Services under National TB Elimination Programme

National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) envisages to reach every TB patient for free provision of diagnosis and evidence-based treatment. During 2019, out of the notified TB patients, 94% of TB patients were initiated on TB treatment.

The Saksham Project of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has been providing psycho-social counselling to DR-TB patient.

TB Co-morbidities

TB is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among People Living with HIV. India is the third-highest HIV burden country in the world, with an adult prevalence of 0.22%.

  1. Available evidence and modeling studies indicate that nearly 20% of all TB cases in India also suffer from DM (Diabetes Mellitus).
  2. India is the second-largest tobacco consumer in the world and the third-largest producer of tobacco after China and Brazil (FAO, 2005). A study conducted in 2004 using health care data from the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), estimated that the Tobacco - attributable cost of TB was three times higher than the expenditure on overall TB control in the country. 8% of TB cases can be attributable to tobacco usage.
  3. Undernutrition is a strong risk factor for developing TB and contributes to an estimated 55% of annual TB incidence in India. It is known to adversely affect the immune system, fasten the progress of disease from infection and predispose to poor outcomes.

Supervision, Monitoring & Evaluation

The Central TB Division assesses the States’ achievements and performance are compared with 9 key indicators using the State TB Score. The States are grouped into 3 categories viz: Union Territories, Population less than 50 lakhs & population more than 50 lakhs.

 Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT)

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is a major reform agenda of the Government of India, entailing targeted delivery of benefits to citizens through the effective use of technology.

We will see just Nikshay Poshan Yojana. No need for details of other schemes. The scheme called “Nikshay Poshan Yojana” was introduced in April 2018 by the National TB Elimination Programme.

Budgeting and Finance

National TB Elimination Programme (formerly known as Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme) is centrally sponsored scheme under NHM to implement the programme activities as envisaged under NSP 2017-25 as per National TB Elimination Programme guidelines.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the World Bank are important donors.

Advocacy, Communication & Social Mobilization

Advocacy, Communication & Social Mobilization (ACSM) is an important pillar in the National TB Elimination Programme (National TB Elimination Programme) as proposed in National Strategic Plan (NSP 2017- 2025).

Examples:

  1. “TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign” was launched by the Hon’ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare on 25th September 2019 showcasing highest level of commitment and implementation
  2. Mention of TB in the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s “Independence Day Speech” and “Mann Ki Baat” has gained tremendous popularity among the general population.

Other important things we found in Report:

Reach Project:

Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health, REACH was established in 1999 in response to the rolling out of the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) in Tamil Nadu. Managed by an executive committee, REACH has been a key partner and leader in the fight against TB.

Our mandate is broad and includes support, care and treatment for TB patients as well as research, advocacy, public education and communication. We work with a range of partners including the RNTCP, local government officials, private hospitals, community-based providers and private practitioners among others.

Joint Effort for Elimination of TB (JEET)

As highlighted in the National Strategic Plan (NSP), the current scale of private sector engagement is insufficient relative to its 133 size and contribution to TB care. So we need to engage them. JEET (Joint Effort for Elimination of Tuberculosis) project aims for intensive engagement with the private sector to achieve universal access to quality diagnosis and treatment for TB.

We will stop now. Any new updates, we will keep posting.

Current Affair 2:
Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’ (IN-SPACe)

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As a part of reforms of various sectors, the Government of India has announced the creation of a new ‘Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’ (IN-SPACe), an “autonomous nodal agency under the Department of Space” that will provide the necessary support for the private space industry to conduct its activities.

Read following important clippings:

This will allow ISRO to allocate more time and resources for R&D endeavours. ISRO will continue to carry out its present activities with greater emphasis on development of advanced technology, missions and capacity building besides supporting private endeavours in space sector.

Now some suggestions,

   

  

In the final analysis, if IN-SPACEe does a good job, the government may not need to go through the long process of legislating a Space Bill, as it has been doing for at least three years now. IN-SPACe is expected to take shape in the next six months. So, by the end of 2020, India will have an opportunity to leapfrog over other spacefaring nations by providing a foundation for the private sector to become globally competitive in the coming years. We will keep an eye on new updates.

Current Affair 3:
Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016

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News was not much important. But the rules were. So, we took this news and prepared. Its always in news. So, we will finish it today.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) notified the new Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM), 2016. These will replace the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, which have been in place for the past 16 years.

These rules are the sixth category of waste management rules brought out by the ministry, as it has earlier notified plastic, e-waste, biomedical, hazardous and construction and demolition waste management rules. Plastic and Biomedical, we have already covered in Previous Current Affairs. We will cover rest gradually. No worries here.

Now see its provisions in detail: Don’t required more than this.

The Rules are now applicable beyond Municipal areas and extend to urban agglomerations, census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of Indian Railways, airports, airbase, Port and harbour, defence establishments, special economic zones, State and Central government organizations, places of pilgrims, religious & historical importance.

Also, the rules have mandated bioremediation or capping of old and abandoned dump sites within five years.

Current Affair 4:
Kala- azar Disease

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  1. Recently, a team of researchers from the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune have found new biomolecules to fight drug resistance in Kala- azar (visceral leishmaniasis).
  2. Specific types of protein molecules, called transporter proteins, play a major role in carrying miltefosine into and out of the parasite’s body, which comprises a single cell. A protein called ‘P4ATPase-CDC50’, is responsible for intake of the drug by the parasite, and another protein, called ‘P-glycoprotein’, is responsible for throwing this drug out from within the parasite’s body.
  3. A decrease in the activity of the former protein, and an increase in the activity of the latter results in less amounts of miltefosine being accumulated inside the parasite’s body, thus causing it to become resistant to the drug.
  4. A team of researchers at the Department of Biotechnology’s National Centre for Cell Science (DBT-NCCS) in Pune has been exploring ways to tackle miltefosine resistance.
  5. The researchers worked with one of the species of Leishmania that causes infection, called Leishmania major. They tried to manipulate these transporter proteins in the species in a manner that would result in increased uptake of the drug and decrease in its being thrown out of the parasite’s body.

About the disease and also important points:

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease affecting almost 100 countries including India. It is caused by a parasite called Leishmania, which is transmitted through the bite of sand flies.

There are three main forms of leishmaniasis – visceral, which affects multiple organs and is the most serious form of the disease, cutaneous, which causes skin sores and is the most common form); and mucocutaneous, which causes skin and mucosal lesion).

IT is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that infects organs such as liver and spleen and is spread through sand flies — flies with hairy, brownish-gray wings. The use of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) of insecticides is the only way to prevent the build-up of these flies.

Visceral leishmaniasis, which is commonly known as Kala-azar in India, is fatal in over 95% of the cases, if left untreated. The only drug available against leishmaniasis, miltefosine, is rapidly losing its effectiveness because of emerging resistance to this drug due to a decrease in its accumulation inside the parasite, which is necessary for the drug to kill the parasite.

Under the National Health Mission (NHM), National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme is the agency responsible for the IRS drive, which is used in areas where the disease is prevalent. It coordinates the kala-azar elimination programme in India.

India has already missed the kala-azar elimination target thrice in the last decade. The initial deadline set by the National Health Programme (now NHM) was 2010, which was pushed to 2015 in the 12th Financial Plan Document. This deadline was later extended twice — to 2017, and then to 2020.

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