Nagpur Rolls Out AI-Based Initiative to Eradicate TB

The initiative integrates a mobile TB van equipped with AI-assisted chest X-ray technology, enabling rapid on-site screening in high-risk areas.

Indira Gandhi Govt Medical College (IGGMC), backed by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, has launched the Nagpur-IGGMC TB initiative to boost diagnosis, case-finding, and notification for TB elimination.

With 4,075 TB cases and 71 deaths reported this year, IGGMC has launched a major effort to make Nagpur TB-free as cases and mortality continue to decline.

The project targets 100,000 high-risk individuals to combat TB through advanced diagnostics and active case-finding, with an initial focus on 25,000 presumptive TB cases across five tuberculosis units (TUs).

The initiative integrates a mobile TB van equipped with AI-assisted chest X-ray technology, enabling rapid on-site screening in high-risk areas.

Additionally, an advanced mycobacteriology laboratory at IGGMC’s microbiology department facilitates molecular diagnosis, testing sputum for TB and resistance to first-line drugs like isoniazid and rifampicin.

The project also includes door-to-door screening by file coordinators and ASHA workers, using symptom-based questionnaires to identify presumptive TB cases, prioritizing high-risk groups, the elderly, PL-HIV, alcoholics, TB contacts, and slum residents.

The presumptive cases will undergo chest X-rays in a mobile van, with AI providing results to guide further testing. The sputum samples from positive or suspicious cases will be sent to IGGMC’s NAAT lab for advanced diagnostics.

Further, the confirmed TB patients will be linked to nearby health centres after getting registered on the Nikshay app, and will receive free treatment under the National TB elimination Programme (NTPE).

The patients will also receive INR 1,000 monthly via Nikshay Poshan Yojana for nutritional support, alongside counselling on treatment adherence, infection control, and stigma reduction.

The initiative will screen household contacts for latent TB infection (LTBI) using the Cy-TB test and offer TB preventive therapy (TPT) to prevent future diseases.

The mobile TB unit was flagged off during the inauguration, attended by MLA Pravin Datke, MLA Dr Ashish Deshmukh, and collector Vipin Itankar.

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