President urges Indians to unite to end tuberculosis

New Delhi, March 23 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday urged all Indians to "work unitedly" to end the "scourge of tuberculosis" in the country.

Addressing the nation on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day (Tuesday), Mukherjee said every two minutes the "menacing disease" claims a life in India.

"It is unfortunate that in India even today one person dies every two minutes due to this menacing disease. On the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day, I urge all Indians to work unitedly to bring an end to the scourge of tuberculosis within our country," he said.

The president advocated building of public awareness about the curability and prevention of the disease and also called for scaling up research and development in the treatment procedure.

"I am happy to know that the revised national tuberculosis control programme has been able to test 86 million people, treat 19 million patients and save 3.4 million lives since its inception in 1993.

"I call upon all stakeholders to rededicate their efforts for achievement of the goal of zero TB deaths in our country in the shortest possible time."