Fight against tuberculosis faces many a hurdle

Patient indiscipline in medicine intake, development of drug-resistance and lack of standard treatment protocols are some hurdles that TB faces in India

March 30, 2015 12:00 am | Updated November 16, 2021 09:30 pm IST

This disease has an acclaimed national programme dedicated to its eradication. A government hospital will provide you six months of free drugs for its treatment. And if you were to take your medicines consistently, the chances of being cured stand at an amazing 95 per cent.

And yet, matters don’t run all that smooth for tuberculosis (TB) patients in Hyderabad and elsewhere.

State Government figures say the average annual detection rate of TB cases in a population of a lakh is 115. At 153, Hyderabad tops all of Telangana’s districts for the number of positive TB cases.

“There is no doubt that TB is a curable disease. There are, however, challenges at various levels, including implementation of the TB control programme in India. However, at an individual level, patients have to be made aware of the importance of adherence to timely intake of free medicines,” says chairman of the Zonal Task Force, Revised National TB Control Programme, K. Subhakar.

If the patients take their TB medicines haphazardly, then there is every chance of them contracting multiple-drug resistant TB (MDRTB).

“Unfortunately, India has the maximum number of MDRTB cases at roughly 64,000, followed by China. A lot of co-ordination between the private and government sectors is needed because a large number of TB patients also visit private hospitals for treatment,” Dr. Subhakar said.

Indeed, estimates say half the 22 lakh patients in India found to be suffering from TB every year prefer private hospitals for treatment.

Moreover, there’s no standardisation in treatment protocols and guidelines in the private sector to treat TB.

“Each doctor in a private facility tends to have his or her own treatment methodology and medicines. While the government provides WHO-approved drugs, there is no promise of quality in the private sector. All these make TB treatment a big challenge in India,” Dr. Subhakar explained.

Even in a government-run TB programme, patients have to take medicines under the supervision of a local health care provider, which seldom happens.

M. Sai Gopal

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