TB Day: awareness campaign planned

As the World Tuberculosis Day (March 24) approaches, the State Government is planning a major awareness campaign to increase the coverage of TB patients under the public sector.

Coimbatore, with its population of around 38 lakh, is estimated to have around 7,378 TB patients as per World Health Organisation guidelines, which estimate nearly 203 cases per one lakh population.

However, sources in the Tuberculosis Division of the State Health Department told

The Hindu that only 3,760 or 51 per cent of the total TB patients in the district are undergoing treatment at Government health centres.

The rest are undergoing treatment with the private sector, which could be an expensive proposition for patients from socio-economically weaker sections. This increased the risk of some TB patients missing out on their treatment.

This, in turn, could result in conversion of otherwise treatable TB cases to Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR TB), which does not respond to the two most powerful first-line anti-TB drugs, or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), which was resistant to first-line drugs well as the powerful antibiotic, fluoroquinolone, and a second-line injectable antibiotic.

With the objective of curbing treatment, the awareness campaign of the State Government is intended to make patients realise that they can get all drugs free of cost, even if they are undergoing treatment in private hospitals. Further, Community DOTS workers would be roped in to provide the drugs at the patient’s place of residence or work.

Private practitioners would also be made to realise that they can refer patients or samples to Government health institutions for testing and diagnosis. Coimbatore has among the highest concentration of private hospitals among all cities in Tamil Nadu.

Cooperation

A senior TB Division official said that the Government was seeking the cooperation of the private sector and the public as well to curtail the spread of MDR TB and XDR TB.

Coimbatore Medical College Hospital has been provided with some advanced equipment, with funding support from World Bank, to perform testing free of cost. The public should make use of these facilities, he added.