Mumbai: Pharma major and a pioneer in the fight against Tuberculosis (TB), Lupin Limited (Lupin) along with the Rotary Club, Mumbai, District 3140 (Rotary) today announced a joint anti-TB campaign to create awareness, detect and combat TB in Mumbai on World TB Day.

Under this campaign, special TB camps will be set up across 150 Rotary clubs in Mumbai District of Rotary. Lupin would ensure that these camps would have adequate resources including trained volunteers and specialists who would assist in detecting and hand-holding cases. Rotary will also spread awareness in communities. They will conduct one camp every quarter resulting in a total of 600 camps across Mumbai District in a year. The primary aim would be to enhance awareness and ensure timely diagnosis and treatment. In addition, ward-to-ward screening will be done with the support of other partners and groups through an active case finding approach. The detected cases will be then referred to the Revised National TB Programme’s (RNTCP) centres in the public sector or public private interface agency (PPIA) registered providers in the private sector for free treatment and care. The aim is to detect cases of TB in the city, and ensure timely and adequate treatment. The program will work in tandem and support the PPIA initiative of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) Mumbai Mission for TB Control.

TB is a contagious and airborne disease, and ranks as the 2nd leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, after the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The incidence of TB has been steadily increasing in the country, with India having the highest burden of TB in the world; an estimated 20 lakh cases annually which accounts for one fifth of the global incidence of the disease. Almost 300,000 Indians lose their lives to TB each year, with 2 people succumbing to TB every 3 minutes. It is estimated that about 40% of the Indian population is infected with TB bacteria, the vast majority of whom have latent rather than active TB disease. While the TB menace is on the rise, what is more alarming is that a large number of cases actually go undetected. According to World Health Organization (WHO) India tops the list of the world’s missed TB cases. Almost 24% of the world’s missed TB cases are from India, and in India 50% of detected cases are not reported to the National TB Program (NTP).

Mumbai is a region where the incidence of TB has risen sharply; the number of TB incidences in the city has steadily increased to 31,789 people diagnosed with TB in 2013, up from 30,828 in 2012. The city has long been a melting pot for a variety of communities and socio-economic segments. With an estimated population of more than 14 million people, which is expanding daily and coupled with rapid urbanization, Mumbai has emerged as an easy target for the rapid spread of a highly contagious disease like TB. Many factors within the city have also contributed to the spread of more dangerous variations such as Multi-Drug resistant (MDR) and Extensively Drug resistant (XDR) TB. Currently Mumbai alone contributes to nearly 50% of Maharashtra’s known drug resistant TB cases. There are a few initiatives that have been launched to combat TB under the aegis of the government’s anti-TB program, the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP). In 2013, the MCGM along with several partner organizations such as the Gates foundation launched a comprehensive strategy to address the growing incidence of TB cases known as the ‘Mumbai Mission for TB Control’. The key focus areas for these projects have been controlling the incidence of TB in slums and highly populated areas and extending services and support to providers and patients in the private sector.

While the government and civic bodies have been actively involved in the fight against TB, Lupin and Rotary together believe that the overall effort can be further complimented by more public-private partnership initiatives that work in tandem together, supporting each other’s efforts. As mentioned earlier, data points to the fact that more than 50% TB cases go undetected for various reasons, which is precisely what led Lupin to initiate a pilot project in Govandi in Mumbai last year, through an NGO. During the course of the project, Lupin was able to detect additional new cases through community engagement initiatives (house to house visits). Lupin’s initial success and findings within the Govandi project have encouraged it to roll out the pan-Mumbai initiative in partnership and collaboration with Rotary. Failure to detect cases early enough is responsible for the spread of TB within the community and fatalities therein. Furthermore lack of awareness; delays in commencement of treatment; incomplete and irrational patient regime are some of the reasons for the recent resurgence of TB. The joint initiative would focus on detection, creating awareness, control and the eventual eradication of TB in Mumbai.

According to Dr. Dhananjay Bakhle, Executive Vice-President, Lupin Limited, “Lupin has always embodied our Founder & Chairman Dr. Desh Bandhu Gupta’s vision and commitment to fight life threatening disease by manufacturing drugs of the highest social priority. We have always strived hard to serve our communities by ensuring that we help treat disease and heal; thus enriching human life” He further added that “We are happy that we have found an able and strong partner in Rotary who not only shares our commitment but also our belief that it is only through linked & partnered initiatives such as these that we can fight and combat a menace such as TB. We believe that such efforts and partnering together would not only add momentum but also go a long way in ensuring a TB Free Mumbai.”

District Governor-Elect, Mr. Subhash Kulkarni, Rotary says, “The Rotary Club as an organisation has always been dedicated to ensuring the collective well-being and social progress of the communities that it is a part of. The growing incidence of TB in Mumbai has prompted us to take this up on an urgent basis. We also understood that a campaign of this magnitude would not be possible to execute alone and hence we chose to partner with Lupin, who would be a great knowledge partner given the fact that Lupin is a world leader in anti-TB medicine. I am sure the initiative will go a long way in not only detecting TB but also curbing and combating its growth and eventual eradication in Mumbai.”

About Lupin Limited

Lupin is an innovation led transnational pharmaceutical company producing and developing a wide range of branded and generic formulations as well as biotechnology products and APIs globally. The Company is a significant player in the Cardiovascular, Diabetology, Asthma, Pediatric, CNS, GI, Anti-Infective and NSAID space and holds global leadership positions in the Anti-TB and Cephalosporin segment.

Lupin is the 5th largest and fastest growing top 5 generics player in the US (5.3% market share by prescriptions, IMS Health) and the 3rd largest Indian pharmaceutical company by sales. The Company is also amongst the top 10 generic pharmaceutical players in Japan and South Africa (IMS). For the financial year ended March 2014, Lupin’s Consolidated revenues and Profit after tax were Rs. 110,866 million (USD 1.83 billion) and Rs. 18,364 million (USD 304 million) respectively. Please visit http://www.lupin.com for more information.

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About Rotary Club

Rotary brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Rotary connects 1.2 million members of more than 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas.

For more information, please contact –

Shamsher Gorawara
Head – Corporate Communications
Ph: +91-22- 98 20 338 555
Email: shamshergorawara@lupin.com

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