CHANDIGARH: Haryana is the first State in the country where paediatric Patient Wise Boxes for the treatment of children suffering from tuberculosis would be given under Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) strategy from April, the Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said on Friday.

In a message on the occasion of World TB Day, Mr.Hooda said that separate boxes would be provided for the children suffering from TB under the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTCP).

He further disclosed that the Central Government had also selected Haryana for the pilot project of DOTS Plus for multi-drug resistant TB. The DOTS Plus project would be implemented from the Intermediated Reference Laboratory at Karnal in April. The lab would conduct culture sensitivity test for the mycobacterium TB and monitor the quality of microscopy and External Quality Assessment.

Mr. Hooda added that Rohtak and Ambala districts had also been selected by the Union Government for public-private mix project for widening DOTS Services by providing access to greater number of people, large scale involvement of Non Government Organizations (NGOs) and private practitioners. Technical training would also be imparted to the district and sub-district technicians and Senior Treatment Laboratory Supervisors (STLS).

Haryana Health Minister Kartar Devi said that the DOTS strategy had helped in decreasing morbidity and mortality. The State had achieved a success rate of 81 per cent, sputum conversion rate of 86.3 per cent and case detection of 158 per lakh of the population. She added that 34,522 patients received treatment during 2005.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail