Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Thrust on care of TB-infected HIV patients

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI MARch 21. Six districts in Tamil Nadu have been identified as endemic to incidence of TB in HIV positive patients, and greater thrust on tuberculosis care is needed in these areas, the State TB officer, M. Perumal, said at a meeting here today, ahead of the World TB Day next week.

On the seriousness of the HIV-TB combination, he said about one-third of HIV positive patients died of TB.

About 40 per cent of the Indian population was infected with tuberculosis, and about 10 per cent of them developed the disease. But in HIV positive patients, the possibility of their developing the disease was about 60 per cent, he said.

On TB care, he said Tamil Nadu had almost achieved the prescribed cure rate of 85 per cent, but was lacking in detection of cases, though it was still ahead of the national average.

The Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) entailed a decentralised approach, which allowed health providers in the public sector to make home visits and counsel patients individually before treatment.

"If a patient is not found for a day, he is traced within 24 hours and asked to take medicines," he said.

"We have prevented 28,000 deaths and 2.8 lakh new cases."

On the need for greater public-private partnership in TB care, the executive treasurer of the Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health (REACH), Nalini Krishnan, said most of the Government initiatives in TB care did not reach patients due to poor awareness of these measures in the private sector.

"The Government has not framed policies for public-private partnerships in healthcare despite talks of such associations."

The RNTCP and the Directly Observed Treatment Short course ensured proper treatment and uninterrupted supply of free drugs to patients in the public healthcare sector, and made it the responsibility of the healthcare system to ensure completion of treatment, she said.

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