Kathmandu, Oct. 13 -- In a bid to prevent tuberculosis from spreading, the Ministry of Health and Population has begun a nation-wide active case detection programme. The programme is in line with the government's 'End TB by 2035' plan, according to the National Tuberculosis Centre.

"Systematic screening will be carried out to find the new and hidden TB cases," Dr Sagar Kumar Rajbhandari, director at the National Tuberculosis Centre, told the Post. "We have already started TB screening of people in all risk groups."

Nepal has committed to increasing investments in TB eradication. To meet the targets by 2035, the new tuberculosis infection rate should be reduced to 10 in every 100,000 population.

TB is the seventh leading cause of death ...