Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has become the first State to formally adopt the Patients' Charter for Tuberculosis Care, an international document developed by the TB Coalition for Technical Assistance and the World Care Council, which has been endorsed by global bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Partnership in health care

The Charter, which sets out the ways in which patients, the community, doctors and Governments can work as partners to improve tuberculosis care, was formally adopted as part of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), being implemented in the State, by Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy, at a function organised by the Department of Health and Family Welfare here on Wednesday.

The Minister said the department would strictly monitor the implementation of the RNTCP to ensure that Central funds were utilised productively.

She said the vast network of women in the Mahila Swasth Sangh and the collective strength of the Indian Medical Association should be utilised to ensure that the benefits of quality tuberculosis care offered under the RNTCP reached all patients. The programme could be effective only if other departments, the local bodies and the public worked in partnership.

Mukund Uplekar, consultant, global tuberculosis control, WHO, Geneva, said the RNTCP conformed to all standards prescribed in the globally-accepted International Standards for Tuberculosis Control. All health care providers in the public and private sector hospitals should join hands to ensure that patients had access to quality care. The Charter will empower patients to demand the best of care from health providers.

Health Additional Secretary Rajan Khobragade, who presided, said it was doubtful whether many people knew that treatment conforming to international standards was being provided free of cost under the RNTCP. A majority of the people depended on the private sector for treatment, probably because of the stigma still attached to tuberculosis, he said.

The Charter, which sets out the rights of patients to free tuberculosis care of international standards, will be prominently displayed in all public sector hospitals and private hospitals which have come under the RNTCP fold.

Director of Health Services T.K. Kuttamani and Director of Medical Education Meenu Hariharan spoke.

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