Sindhiya Gupta
Jammu & Kashmir is quietly scripting one of India’sstrongest success stories in public health — a story of scale, resolve and relentless ground action.
At the heart of this transformation is the National Health Mission J&K, which has turned the country’s TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan into a dynamic, door-to-door movement.
Under the leadership of Mission Director Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary, IAS, the UT’s fight against tuberculosis has moved far beyond official directives — it has become a collective mission touching every home, every village, and every high-altitude hamlet.
What sets J&K apart is not just the ambition of its TB elimination campaign, but its speed and reach.
Over the past two years, health teams have fanned out across the mountains and plains, into dense urban neighbourhoods, pastoral communities, and remote tribal settlements — places where health access has traditionally been a challenge.
The numbers speak for themselves, with over 5.25 lakh people screened in 2024–25, and another 2.59 lakh screened so far this year.
This aggressive push for early detection has been the turning point, allowing health workers to identify infections early, start treatment quickly, and stop the disease from spreading silently.
The backbone of this mission is a diagnostic system that has been strengthened like never before. District and sub-district hospitals now run high-speed CBNAAT and TrueNat machines.
Digital X-rays and portable diagnostic tools are reaching snow-bound pockets where healthcare delivery is often at the mercy of weather. For perhaps the first time, geography is no longer a barrier to accurate TB diagnosis in J&K.
But technology alone doesn’t win battles — people do. And the Nikshay ecosystem has emerged as a lifeline for thousands of TB patients across the UT. Through Nikshay Mitras, patients are receiving nutritional support, counselling, and constant follow-up.
Financial support under Nikshay Poshan Yojana is reaching families on time, ensuring treatment never stops because of hunger or hardship. And at the centre of this network stand ASHA workers — the unsung heroes walking miles each day to ensure every patient takes every dose, every time.
Their efforts are not just curing TB; they are preventing the rise of drug-resistant forms of the disease.
This massive campaign is being steered with strong administrative oversight. Regular reviews by the Chief Secretary and the Lieutenant Governor have kept districts on their toes.
Under the guidance of the MD NHM, performance targets are clear, timelines are tight, and accountability is firm — resulting in one of the most coordinated TB elimination operations anywhere in the country.
Just as important is the growing social movement around TB awareness. Health melas, school programmes, panchayat sabhas, religious gatherings, and high-impact social media outreach are reshaping public attitudes.
The message is clear and powerful: TB is preventable, curable, and nobody should fear testing. Breaking stigma is half the battle — and J&K is winning it by taking conversations directly to communities.
The result is a TB elimination model that health experts are now looking at with admiration. In a region known for extreme terrain and climatic unpredictability, NHM J&K has shown what determined leadership, empowered frontline workers, and community participation can achieve together.
As India pushes towards its goal of TB Mukt Bharat, Jammu & Kashmir stands out as a shining example of what is possible when health missions turn into people’s movements.
This is not just a story of disease control — it is a story of vision, courage, and a UT determined to defeat tuberculosis once and for all.
Sindhiya Gupta is an entrepreneur based in Jammu and can be reached at [email protected].
