Strengthening TB Care Across Communities in Manipur
Tuberculosis is not just a medical condition. For many families, it comes with fear, stigma, distance from healthcare facilities, and the constant challenge of continuing treatment without interruption.
Across Manipur, Eehul Foundation has been working quietly at the community level to ensure that people affected by TB are not left behind.
Supporting the 100 Days TB Campaign
On 7 December 2024, the State Mission Directorate, National Health Mission (NHM), Manipur launched the 100 Days TB Campaign under the slogan “Jan Jan Rakhe Gyan, TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan”. The campaign was designed to intensify TB detection, treatment support, and public awareness across the State.
As a Patient Provider Support Agency (PPSA) under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), Eehul Foundation joined this effort by supporting awareness activities, stigma reduction initiatives, and digital and technical assistance to strengthen implementation and monitoring at the ground level.
Taking Awareness Beyond Posters
For many people, misinformation remains one of the biggest barriers to seeking TB care. To address this, Eehul Foundation’s field teams have been engaging directly with communities through outreach sessions, discussions, and the distribution of informational flyers and pamphlets.
These interactions focus on explaining how TB spreads, why early testing matters, and why completing treatment is essential for full recovery. Just as importantly, they create space for people to ask questions openly, without fear or judgement.
Care That Reaches Home
TB treatment does not end at diagnosis. For many patients, especially the elderly or those living in remote areas, staying motivated throughout months of treatment can be difficult.
Eehul Foundation conducts regular home visits to TB patients, offering counselling, emotional support, and guidance to both patients and their families. These visits help reduce stigma within households and encourage a supportive environment where patients feel understood rather than isolated.
Ensuring Timely Diagnosis
Early and accurate diagnosis plays a critical role in TB control. In many remote and hard-to-reach areas, delays often occur simply because samples cannot reach laboratories on time.
To address this, Eehul Foundation supports the safe transportation of sputum samples from health facilities and community collection points to designated TB laboratories. Proper packaging, labeling, and timely dispatch help ensure that samples reach laboratories in good condition, enabling faster diagnosis and treatment initiation.
Nutrition and Treatment Support
Recovery from TB requires more than medicines alone. Good nutrition is essential for building strength and immunity during treatment.
Using the Ni-kshay portal, Eehul Foundation identifies TB patients who require additional nutritional and social support. In collaboration with Babina Diagnostics, monthly nutrition assistance and essential supplies are provided to help patients sustain their treatment journey and improve recovery outcomes.
Responding During Emergencies
During floods and natural disasters, access to medicines and basic necessities becomes even more challenging. During such times, Eehul Foundation’s field and support teams step in to provide essential medicines, medical supplies, and daily-use items to affected communities, ensuring continuity of care when it is needed most.
Learning Through Engagement
Eehul Foundation also believes in sharing learning and building capacity. As part of this approach, the Foundation hosts orientation visits for students, including those from the Master of Social Work (MSW) programme of IGNOU.
These visits offer students real-world exposure to community health work, TB care, digital health support, and disaster response, helping bridge the gap between academic learning and field realities.
Moving Forward
Eliminating tuberculosis requires sustained effort, trust at the community level, and strong collaboration with public health systems. Through awareness, home-based care, logistics support, and patient-centered interventions, Eehul Foundation continues to contribute to this collective goal.
Every home visit, every conversation, and every timely delivery brings us one step closer to a TB-free future.