The Hindu : New Delhi News : “Urgent need to boost tuberculosis control programme”

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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“Urgent need to boost tuberculosis control programme”

Staff Reporter

Annual TB report card released by NGO
“One-fifth of drug-resistant TB cases in india”

NEW DELHI: India is home to nearly one-fifth of the global burden of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis cases and this could ruin its national tuberculosis control programme, warns the latest annual tuberculosis report card released by a non-government organisation, Global Health Advocates.

“The consequences of not maintaining a consistently high quality of services delivered through the national tuberculosis control programme infrastructure include an increase in the incidence and prevalence of multi-drug resistance cases and in the death rates especially among people living with HIV/AIDS,” said Bobby John, president of Global Health Advocates, releasing the report here on the occasion of World TB Day.

Mr. John said there was an urgent need to increase the funding and manpower engaged in tuberculosis control to ensure that drug-resistant tuberculosis is prevented. He also noted that practical problems including creation of more accessible and patient-friendly diagnostic and treatment centres was essential, besides engaging the private health sector in the fight against tuberculosis.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation’s regional report on tuberculosis was also released by the WHO regional office for South-East Asia on the occasion of World TB Day. The report highlights the steady progress being made by national tuberculosis programmes in the region, adding that a third of all tuberculosis cases remain unregistered by the national tuberculosis programmes.

According to the report, the overall case detection rate of 68 per cent and treatment success rates consistently above the global target of 85 per cent has been achieved. As a result, both occurrence of new cases and deaths due to tuberculosis continue to show a slow but steady decline.

WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Samlee Plianbangchang said: “We need to pay attention to other factors impacting tuberculosis control. These include housing and work environments that easily allow for transmission, malnutrition, age, gender-related factors and ineffective coping strategies that spur the progression to active disease.”

“Health systems in the region through which national tuberculosis services are delivered also need to be strengthened in order to maintain and further accelerate the momentum and impact of tuberculosis control efforts in the region,” he added.

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