Jammu, Mar 22 (PTI) Three districts of Jammu and Kashmir received gold medal under national TB elimination programme for its fight against the disease, officials said on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare awarded the districts of Anantnag, Pulwama and Kupwara.

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A total of eight districts from 33 states and Union Territories were awarded gold medal with J&K topping the list, they said.

The five other districts included Malappuram and Wayanad districts of Kerala, Khargone of Madhya Pradesh, Ahmednagar of Maharashtra and Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, they added.

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All these districts have shown 60-80 per cent reduction in TB cases in the past five years. Baramulla, which was the fourth entry from the Union Territory, bagged the bronze medal under this programme, they added.

Speaking on this achievement, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Medical Education (H&ME), Vivek Bhardwaj, said, "Gold medal to three districts of Jammu & Kashmir reflects the hard work put in by the district administration and healthcare officials towards elimination of TB from the Union Territory.

"We are aligned with the Government of India's vision to eliminate tuberculosis from the country by 2025. This recognition of our efforts will motivate the grass root teams associated with the tuberculosis elimination program to work with greater enthusiasm",he said.

The ministry has rolled out the initiative of sub-national certification of progress towards TB-free status in 2020-21 to track the progress made towards achieving the goal of total TB elimination by 2025.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)