Viatris launches support project in Maharashtra to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis

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Mylan Laboratories, a part of global healthcare company Viatris, has announced the launch of a new tuberculosis (TB) support project in Nagpur, Maharashtra.  The project, with a special focus on drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), is being implemented in partnership with the non-profit organisation Doctors For You, Nagpur Municipal Corporation and the City TB Office, Nagpur under a Public-Private Partnership model.

TB continues to be a significant public health challenge in India, with the Nagpur district facing growing challenges in expanding TB preventive treatment coverage and strengthening molecular diagnostic capacity.

The project is an 18-month initiative aligned with the Government of India’s National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, adopting its Detect-Treat-Prevent-Build approach. It comprises timely and accurate diagnosis, TB preventive treatment uptake among household contacts, nutritional support for TB and DR-TB patients, and integrated coordination across diagnostic, preventive, and support services.

Under the project, the key interventions would be processing more than 26,000 samples across four locations in the Nagpur district, household tracing of confirmed TB and DR-TB patients targeting 22,000 households and distributing more than 450 nutrition kits.

“Since 2020, we’ve screened more than 1.5 million people for TB in India. Over the past five years, Viatris supported the TB Control Initiative, reaching more than 58,000 people in rural and tribal areas of Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra. We will continue to explore ways to support regional and national health priorities and look forward to continued collaboration for the health and well-being of people in Maharashtra,” said Lina Andersson, Head of Global Sustainability, Viatris.