PANAJI
The Directorate of Health Services has received four AI-powered and ultra-portable X-ray machines, greatly enhancing its capabilities in implementing the tuberculosis eradication programme in Goa.
The machines have been donated by the Rotary Foundation through the Rotary Clubs of Panaji Riviera and Dona Paula.
The DHS has been implementing the TB eradication programme through its network of PHCs for over two years, by mobilising local communities while using portable X-ray machines for screening suspected patients, sometimes at their doorstep.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane took to micro-blogging site ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) to thank the Rotary Clubs for donating the portable X-ray systems.
He said these systems will enable doorstep screening, early detection and timely treatment of TB. Goa has been struggling to achieve goals set by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to eliminate TB by 2025, logging on average five new cases daily.
According to the ‘India TB Report 2024’, Goa has had a lower number of cases than the national average, having logged 133 cases per one lakh population in 2023 as against 179 per one lakh population in the rest of the country in 2023.
However, the State’s mortality rate among TB patients has been relatively higher than the national average in the two successive years of 2022 and 2023.
Alcoholism and type-II diabetes among TB patients have been identified as the two most significant contributing factors to Goa’s higher mortality rate.
