Bengal to roll out triple disease elimination programme this month
Times of India | 8 April 2025
Kolkata: After a successful pilot project, Bengal govt is set to roll out a triple elimination programme for HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis by preventing vertical transmission from mother to child. It is the only state that has taken the initiative in sync with WHO's target of this triple elimination by 2030. State health officials said on Monday, World Health Day, that the project would be implemented in all districts this month.
"Capacity building for the programme is over for all districts, and preparations are underway to roll this out. By introducing this project, we are hopeful of eliminating the three transmissible diseases from the state within the WHO target," said a senior health official.
According to doctors, a woman with any of these infections can pass them on to the newborn. Under this programme, prevention starts right from the antenatal check-up to screen a pregnant woman for the three infections. If found, medical intervention will follow to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
The pilot project was launched in April 2024 in four health districts — Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas, Diamond Harbour and Rampurhat — with the technical backing of WHO. Health department sources said that a special task force had been formed to oversee the replication of this drive across the state.
Statistics show that Bengal is doing better than the national average when it comes to testing coverage of pregnant women for the three diseases — 83% against the national average of 40% for hepatitis B, 96% against 84% for HIV, and 64% against 57% for syphilis.
"This project will converge the preventive ways for all three infections that have a similar route of transmission for better results," said a health official.
This govt initiative is being supported by partner organisations that include Indian Public Health Association, West Bengal Academy of Paediatrics, Neonatology Society of West Bengal, Bengal Obstetric and Gynecological Society, Association of Physicians of India, and Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists West Bengal. On World Health Day, members of all these organisations pledged to continue their contributions to the elimination of the three diseases.