Sustainable Eco-Human Development is the key chain developmental strategical report to make word sustainable in all aspects. Here ECO is referred to Environmental surroundings while as Human to Sustainable human development [disease free humans]. When there would be healthy [sustainable] surroundings, there would be sustainable disease free humans. All the factors and variables for living a disease free life is depend on sustainability and cleanliness.
As we live on the mother earth, there are many inactivated creatures [tiny minute micro-organisms] present in our environment naturally which are beneficial for human kind but when treated badly by the polluted environment, these microbes become toxic for the humans & spread the diseases like TB [ tuberculosis] .
Sustainable environmental can help in achieving disease free humans and disease free surroundings also. Not only emission of Green House Gases is responsible for the environmental disturbance but uncontrollable activation of microbes like [bacteria] through global warming can be hazardous for environment sustainability and for human sustainable sector too.
Where Global warming & Climate change are becoming important discussions throughout world, sustainable eco human development can be the leading effecting tool to alleviate the planet from Global warming, Climate change & free from disease like TB. Sustainable Eco-Human Development can lead to TB free India, as sustainable environmental intervention in this disease can yield big benefits.
As Tuberculosis [TB] is a communicable disease & one of the top 10 causes of death globally, the year 2022 marks a milestone year for TB surveillance efforts in India, with a record high notification of 24.2 lakh cases; an increase of 13% as compared to 2021. This translates to a case notification rate of approximately 172 cases per lakh population. The period also saw the highest private TB case notifications achieved so far, 7.3 lakhs. The total number of MDR/RR cases diagnosed in 2022 is 63,801.
Sustaining the momentum of finding missed TB patients by strengthening the case finding efforts (both passive and active case finding) led to the above achievement under the programme. In 2022, the presumptive TB examination rate (PTBER) for the country rose to 1281 per lakh population (68% increase) from 763 in 2021.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 9 million new cases of TB are diagnosed annually, 55% of them in Asia and 31% in Africa, placing TB second only to HIV/AIDS in terms of the global burden of infectious disease.
TB control strategies adopted by the WHO and other organizations emphasize clinical solutions in the form of drugs, vaccines, and access to health care but emerging evidence suggests environmental interventions could yield big benefits. In a report published online 3 October 2008 ahead of print in The Lancet, Majid Ezzati and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health predict that by 2033 TB incidence rates in parts of China could be 14–52% lower if tobacco smoking and indoor air pollution from traditional cooking stoves are eliminated. These reductions assume that 80% of the population already has access to optimal treatments for TB; the benefits would be even greater among those without such access, says Ezzati, an associate professor of global health and environmental health. But evidence shows that even more than clinical advances, environmental health improvements have driven historical declines in TB prevalence.
Spreading awareness and creating demand for solutions will not solve the problem but working on Sustainable Eco-Human Development could be a stepping stone in not only elevating the world from disease like TB, but would help in tackling the situation like Global warming & Climate change too. Environmental factors play a strong role in tuberculosis transmission, its severity, cure rates, and death rates. Understanding these environmental and social factors is vitally important for TB control.
Poor access to health care increases the TB risk factors of HIV infection and diabetes, and decreases the chances of successful TB treatment. Other environmental factors enhance TB transmission and worsen outcomes include:
- Air and soil pollution.
- Overcrowded living conditions.
- Urbanization (along with poverty).
A combination of antibiotics taken every day for at least six to 12 months will cure most active TB cases. In poorer populations, it can be difficult to get compliance with this difficult treatment regimen. Active TB disease requires several weeks of antibiotic treatment before the patient isn’t contagious. During the contagious period, precautions are needed to protect others by utilizing clay utensils at home for consuming food. Utilizing a healthcare-system-only approach will have limited success with environmental TB, but the overall workings & success of Sustainable Eco-Human Development will make India not only TB free but Sustainable in all aspects.
The successful summit of G20 Presidency offered the scope to talk about the critical Public Health Considerations. India is fully committed to ensure that Global Health discourse is aligned with the ethos of ‘One Earth One Health’ as envisioned by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also, ‘TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan’ that was launched by Hon’ble President of India. The successful outcome of Sustainable Eco-Human Development will definitely achieve the TB-Free India in near future.
(Author is Researcher working in Infectious Division. Worked at CSIR IIIM Jammu as the young researcher during Covid 19 pandemic & is Environmental Activist
