78 villages in Nagaland declared tuberculosis-free

The Nagaland government on Sunday said that 78 villages in the state were now tuberculosis-free.

The places include 34 villages in Phek district, 19 in Longleng, nine in Wokha, four in Mokokchung and three in Kohima, an official said.

The announcement was made on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day on Sunday.

The National TB Elimination Programme team conducted surveys and found that these villages were TB-free, she said. As per reports, Nagaland had 4,284 active TB cases in 2023.

World Tuberculosis Day is observed on March 24, when Dr Robert Koch announced in 1882 that he had discovered the bacterium which causes TB, paving the way for diagnosing and cure.