Bhubaneswar, April 2 -- Over 2700 TB patients in Odisha's Balasore district are allegedly forced to stop medication with the required medicines not available in hospitals including the district headquarters hospital (DHH).

At a time when the state government has set a target to make Odisha a TB-free state by 2025, the situation in Balasore puts a question mark on the accomplishment of the target.

As per reports, prescribed medicines for TB are not available regularly at hospitals across the district, leaving TB patients at the receiving end. These days, patients returning empty-handed from the DHH is a common scene.

"I first went to Nilagiri hospital. There they asked us to go to Balasore DHH. Here, they gave us six strips of medicines...