Ratan Tata joins fight for TB-free India

Chairman Emeritus Tata Group and Chairman of Tata Trust, Ratan Tata has pledged his support for a tuberculosis free India at the launch of the TB initiative, called 'Mumbai Dialogue: Towards a TB-free India'. 

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, along with US ambassador to India, Richard Verma, hae also joined the cause. 

Speaking on the occasion, Ratan Tata said that disease does not differentiate between rich and poor, but it results in discrimination within the society. He called for a collective response from both, corporates and communities against the disease.

Amitabh Bachchan, who was suffereing from TB in 2000, said, "I am a TB survivor myself, and I know that this disease is curable and one can overcome it."

While, Richard Verma said that US has invested nearly $100 million in last 18 years to eradicate TB, and it has been successful in helping over 15 million people since. 

According to WHO Global TB report 2014, around 2.40 lakh Indians die every year of TB.