The initiative is a part of its Corporate TB Pledge, a joint initiative with the Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Today on World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, Johnson & Johnson India has announced the launch of a youth-focused, digital-first initiative ‘Be The Change For TB’ as part of its Corporate TB Pledge, a joint initiative with the Central TB Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), supporting the Indian Government’s goal to end TB. Bollywood actor Vaani Kapoor has been appointed as the face of the initiative.
As an estimated 30 per cent of the total TB cases in India are in the age group of 18-30 years, this initiative aims to create a cadre of Youth Changemakers who can act as catalysts of change to help eliminate TB from the country.
The initiative aims to increase awareness about the disease, build youth engagement and participation and improve health-seeking behaviour in support of the government’s vision of a TB-free India. It addresses the youth of India as they are best positioned to be the torchbearers in driving behavioural change amongst the public, which can significantly scale-up the fight against TB. The initiative will also bust the common misconceptions around TB and communicate the right messages around diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The communication and social mobilisation aspects of this initiative would entail various online and on-ground interventions including working with state and district health departments, National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and local communities.
This initiative, in support of global efforts to help find the missing millions of people living with undiagnosed TB, are part of Johnson & Johnson’s 10-year initiative to help drive progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending this deadly, but preventable and treatable, disease by 2030.