Principal Secretary, Health, Medical and Family Welfare, Ajay Sawhney on Monday said that efforts are on to effectively implement ban of serological (blood) tests for Tuberculosis, which was issued by Government of India in 2012. The top health official felt that proper implementation of ban on over the counter sale of anti-TB drugs is also vital for effective fight against TB.
Participating in ‘World TB Day’ function on Monday, organised by State TB Control Society (STBCS), Mr. Sawhney acknowledged the role of medical colleges in TB control. “I request medical colleges to sensitise other medical departments on detection of all kinds of TB cases. This is important to identify TB cases,” he said.
Participating in a rally on TB, organised by the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) on the theme ‘Walk to reach the three million’, Mr. Sawhney said that there was a need to reach out to the missing three million TB cases in the world.
“Among this, around 10 lakh TB patients are missed every year in India of which 1.75 lakh are from our State. There is also a need to concentrate more on drug resistant TB, which is steadily on the rise,” he said.
Theme
This is year’s theme is based on the idea that every year three million persons fail to get notified, diagnosed and treated for TB. To curb inappropriate diagnosis, irregular and incomplete treatment, the GOI had made it mandatory for all private hospitals in the State to notify TB cases, which are treated by them, to district TB health officials.
“These directives are seldom implemented by private clinics, nursing homes and corporate hospitals. Another major problem with TB diagnosis is that not many medical colleges are involved in TB identification. They are supposed to coordinate with TB officials to strengthen diagnostic and treatment services,” doctors said.
