PIB Analysis : 23rd & 24th March

PIB Analysis for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Tuberculosis
  2. Allotment of Broadcast/Telecast time to Recognized National/State Political Parties

1 . Tuberculosis

Context : Ministry of Health & Family Welfare commemorated the World TB Day with a function to mark the occasion, and reiterated the commitment to eliminating TB in the country by 2025.

About World TB day

  • World Tuberculosis Day, is observed every year on March 24
  • The theme of World Tuberculosis Day this year is “It’s Time”.
  • Consistent with the spirit of this theme, India has renewed its commitments and intentions to end TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global targets.

About TB

  • Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable.
  • TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.
  • About one-quarter of the world’s population has latent TB, which means people have been infected by TB bacteria but are not (yet) ill with the disease and cannot transmit the disease.
  • When a person develops active TB disease, the symptoms (such as cough, fever, night sweats, or weight loss) may be mild for many months. This can lead to delays in seeking care, and results in transmission of the bacteria to others. People with active TB can infect 10–15 other people through close contact over the course of a year. Without proper treatment, 45% of HIV-negative people with TB on average and nearly all HIV-positive people with TB will die.

Symptoms and diagnosis

  • Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Many countries still rely on a long-used method called sputum smear microscopy to diagnose TB.
  • Trained laboratory technicians look at sputum samples under a microscope to see if TB bacteria are present. Microscopy detects only half the number of TB cases and cannot detect drug-resistance.

Treatment

  • TB is a treatable and curable disease. Active, drug-susceptible TB disease is treated with a standard 6 month course of 4 antimicrobial drugs

MDR-TB & XDR-TB

  • Drug resistance emerges when anti-TB medicines are used inappropriately, through incorrect prescription by health care providers, poor quality drugs, and patients stopping treatment prematurely.
  • Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to isoniazid and rifampicin, the 2 most powerful, first-line anti-TB drugs. MDR-TB is treatable and curable by using second-line drugs.
  • However, second-line treatment options are limited and require extensive chemotherapy (up to 2 years of treatment) with medicines that are expensive and toxic.
  • In some cases, more severe drug resistance can develop. Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) is a more serious form of MDR-TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to the most effective second-line anti-TB drugs, often leaving patients without any further treatment options.

Government Initiatives

  • Universal drug susceptibility testing has been rolled out, shorter and newer treatment regimen has been expanded countrywide. India is moving towards an injection free regimen.
  • Private sector engagement has been elevated as one of the highest priorities with strengthened regulatory measures, collaborative incentives and scale up of successful Patient Provider Support Agency (PPSA) interventions which led to a 35% increase in TB notification from the private sector.
  • The Nikshay Poshan Yojana has benefited 15 lakh TB patients for nutrition support with Rs. 240 cores disbursed as DBT since April 2018.
  • A comprehensive call centre for information, addressing grievance, patient linkages and provider relationship has been established.
  • Institutional system of award for TB free status has been introduced to generate federal competitiveness, motivate and to bring about proactive actions from States and Districts.
  • TB forums at various levels in the states have been formed to remove stigma and to create awareness about the symptoms of the disease and the free treatment available at the government health facilities.
  • 1180 CBNAAT labs have been made operational throughout the country, along with 4 lakh treatment support centres at the village level.
  • These efforts have resulted in increase from 25% to 83% in the treatment success rates (2017-2018), and the TB prevalence rates have come down from 29% to 4%. 

2 . Allotment of Broadcast/Telecast time to Recognized National/State Political Parties

Background

  • At the time of General Election to Lok Sabha, in February, 1998 the Election Commission of India had taken up a new initiative for state funding of recognized political parties, through free use of state owned Television and Radio under directions of the Commission
  • The said scheme was subsequently extended in all the General Elections to the Lok Sabha in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 and General Elections to the State Assemblies, held after 1998.

Allocation of Time to each party

  • Each National and State party shall be allotted time for telecasts over Doordarshan and broadcasts on All India Radio, according to the following parameters: –

For National Parties

  • Of the ten hours telecasting/broadcasting time reserved over the National channel/hookup of DD/AIR for the National Parties, 45 (forty five) minutes shall be allotted to each of the 7 National parties, i.e. a total of five hours and fifteen minutes (5-15 hrs), each on the DD & AIR Separately;
  • The remaining four hours and forty five minutes (4 hrs., 45 minutes) telecasting/ broadcasting time shall be further divided among the seven National parties, according to the percentage of votes polled by each such party, at the last General Election to the House of People held in 2014.
  • In addition, each National party shall be allotted one and a half times of the total time allotted to it under sub-paras (a) and (b) above, for telecasts/broadcasts on the Regional Doordarshan Kendras/Regional AIR Station;
  • Of the total time so allotted to each National Party under sub-para (c), each such party shall have the option to utilise the time so allotted on any of the Regional Doordarshan Kendra/State Capital AIR Station: provided that not more than one-tenth (1/10th) of such time shall be utilised by it at any one Regional Doordarshan Kendras/AIR Stations

For State Parties

  • Of the total time of thirty (30) hours reserved for telecasting/broadcasting by the State parties on the Regional DD Kendras/Regional AIR Stations, each of 52 State Parties shall be allotted thirty (30) minutes i.e. a total of twenty six (26) hours, each on DD and AIR separately;
  • The remaining twelve hours and four hours (4 hours) telecasting/broadcasting time for parties shall be further divided among the said 52 State Parties, according to the percentage of votes polled by each such party in the State(s) in which it is recognized, at the last General Election to the House of the People held in 2014.
  • In addition, each State Party shall be allotted 10 minutes telecasting/broadcasting time on Regional Satellite Services channel of DD available to viewers across the whole country and the National hookup of AIR.

Guidelines for observance in Telecasts/Broadcasts

The telecasts/broadcasts on Doordarshan/AIR will not permit;

  • Criticism of other countries;
  • Attack on religions or communities;
  • Anything obscene or defamatory;
  • Incitement of violence
  • Anything amounting to contempt of court 
  • Aspersions against the integrity of the President and Judiciary;
  • Anything affecting the unity, sovereignty and integrity of the Nation:
  • Any criticism by name of any persons.

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