Amitabh Bachchan and Ratan Tata join the effort
(Mumbai, india) Mr Richard Verna, United States Ambassador to India, launched the ‘Mumbai Dialogue: Towards a TB-Free India’ on 10 September as part of an effort to engage India’s corporate sector in the Call to Action for a TB-Free India campaign.
Legendary Bollywood actor Mr Amitabh Bachchan, a TB survivor, Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, Sir Ratan Tata Trusts, and Dr Jagdish Prasad-DGHS, Govt. of India, have joined the cause as TB champions and were on hand to support the event, along with corporate leaders and other key stakeholders.
India has the highest TB burden of any country in the world, and according to WHO Global TB Report 2014, 240,000 Indians die of TB each year and 61,000 suffer from multidrug-resistant TB.
Focusing on the need for private sector involvement, Ambassador Verma said: “Over the last 18 years, the United States has invested close to $100 million to prevent and control TB, and has helped to treat over 15 million people. However, there is still much more that needs to be done to end TB in India, and governments cannot do it alone. We need a multi-sectoral approach in which partners, public and private, collaborate to achieve this ambitious yet attainable goal.”
Mr Bachchan added, “As someone who has suffered from TB, I can tell you of the havoc that the disease can cause to a person’s life. It can often take months to be diagnosed. Even when the diagnosis is accurate, getting the right treatment is not always easy. However, as a TB survivor, I can also tell you that this is a disease that can be fought against and won over. I believe we all have a role to play – as spokespersons, community leaders, philanthropists and individuals – in making India TB-Free.”
Speaking about his role as a champion for TB, Mr Tata said, “Most Indian families, it seems, at some point have encountered tuberculosis, which is such a big impediment to our basic wellbeing and overall socio-economic development. This disease, which is treatable and curable, is a significant economic drain especially on our poor and results in discrimination at schools, workplaces and within societies. It is about time that corporates and communities collectively respond to end this epidemic in our country. The Tata Trusts wholeheartedly support this national movement against TB and will do everything in their capacity to contribute towards making it a success.”
Bringing the Government’s perspective, Dr Jagdish Prasad, DGHS – Ministry of Health said, “TB control is not only a medical problem but a social problem and in this context what is required at this stage of TB control is that each section of society should come forward and join this fight against TB. I am sure that the private sector and corporates would adopt slums and different districts of India for comprehensive TB control as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility and supplement the effort.”
Speakers also underlined the impact of TB on the economy. TB is a treatable and curable disease that largely strikes adults in their prime working years, making it difficult for them to support themselves and their families. For the business sector, TB causes absenteeism, lowers productivity and raises direct and indirect costs, such as healthcare, recruitment and training. Globally, experts project that TB results in a decline in worker productivity valued at US $12 billion every year. For India, it causes a loss of 100 million work days per year.
The Mumbai Dialogue was hosted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union).
Photo caption (here and home page):
Senior leaders of various corporates of India at the Mumbai Dialogue for a TB- Free India, interacting with Dr Jagdish Prasad (DGHS, GOI), Mr Amitabh Bachchan, US Ambassador to India Mr Richard Verma and Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman, TATA Trusts.
About The Call to Action for a TB-Free India
The Call to Action for a TB-Free India Campaign is an initiative led by the Government of India to engage corporate, civil society and community leaders in the campaign to end TB in India. The Call to Action will culminate in a National Summit in March 2016. It is supported by a Challenge TB grant from USAID implemented by The Union South-East Asia Office.