TB News from India: November - December 2001



TB News from India is published by Health and Development Initiative-India once every two months.
The objective of newsletter is to highlight issues related to Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS control in India and enlist public, professional and administrative support for its cause. Health and Development Initiative-India is a not-for-profit organization and the news items have been quoted from various sources for fair use and in public interest. Reproduction of the material published is welcome provided a reference is made to the original source of the news item and TB News from India"


Editorial Note


No representation from India at First STOP TB Partners Forum held at Washington DC (22nd to 23rd October 2001):

The presence of an official Indian delegation at the First STOP TB Partners Forum held at Washington DC from 22nd to 23rd October would have reassured the international brotherhood about the commitment of India to keep pace with world wide movement towards eliminating tuberculosis as a global public health problem by the year 2050.However India, which alone accounts for one-third of global tuberculosis burden was conspicuous by its absence at the Forum. It is now imperative on part of the Indian Government to immediately endorse the Washington Commitment and initiate emergent steps in order to implement the specific actions enunciated in the Commitment. The first step needed is to finalize a national plan to achieve the global targets for TB control by the end of December 2001.By taking this essential step India shall be reiterating its resolve of being a full fledged partner in this global movement.



Read the full text of Washington Commitment at
http://www.healthinitiative.org/html/Conf/index.htm 




News Items

 

TB cases on the rise in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secundrabad.


A Times News Network story published in The Times of India dated (19th September 2001) reports that Tuberculosis cases are on the rise in the capital twin-cities of Secundrabad and Hyderabad of the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. A recent survey done by the State TB Control and Treatment Department, the data of which is yet to be made public, indicates an increase of 30 per cent in the incidence of TB cases in 2000-2001 as compared to 1999-2000 in these cities. In the survey, it was found that the main reason for this increase in TB cases in the city as well as the state was a failure of the public health community to make optimal use of existing, available methods of prevention. It was also found that more than 95 per cent of TB cases could be cured if proper measures were taken. The survey also revealed that DOTS was reaching only a fraction of those who needed it. The increase of TB in the city was also attributed to the increase in HIV Positive cases and also an increase in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases.


Full text of the story at:
http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?catkey=-2128816011&art_id=2102938414&sType=1 

 




Tuberculosis kills 18 prisoners in Assam

A Reuters news story published in Times of India (dated 28th August 2001) says that eighteen prisoners have died of tuberculosis in the north eastern Indian state of Assam in the last five months according to the Chairman of the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC). Tuberculosis is the most common cause of death among prisoners in Assam, Justice R K Manisana Singh added.



Full text of the story at:
http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?catkey=-2128672765&art_id=1829999271&sType=1 





AIDS cases higher Pune's TB patients



A news item in Indian Express (dated 5th June2001) by Sanchita Sharma says that AIDS incidence in Pune seems to be much higher than what the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) figures indicate. One in four tuberculosis patients getting treated at B.J. Medical College, Pune was found to have AIDS. Most of them did not even know they were infected.

This hospital was among the nine centers participating in a multicentric trial in order to determine the factors that could contribute to a rise in multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. One of the factors being considered was the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in patients with tuberculosis, which is the biggest killer of people living with AIDS. Dr Dilip R. Joshi, Head of the Department, Respiratory Medicine, B.J. Medical College, said ''Still, it was shocking to find HIV prevalence to be a high 28 per cent among tuberculosis patients, most of whom did not know they had the disease''. 

The Clinical Epidemiology Network of India is coordinating the two-year study, which began in July last year. The tuberculosis study has found that the biggest factor for multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis is a history of having being treated for tuberculosis in the past. ''Non-compliance to the prescribed regimen, faulty drug regimen and spurious drugs are the major causes for MDR tuberculosis, with 21 of the 23 isolates at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi found to have been treated for TB in the past,'' says J.N. Pande, Head, Department of Medicine, who is coordinating the countrywide research.

Full text of the story at:
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20010605/nat13.html 

 

TB increases risk for HIV infected


A news item in The Tribune (dated 13th September 2001) by Shivani Bhakoo says that a study conducted by a Ludhiana, Punjab based Chest Physician concludes that a majority of HIV-infected patients in the region die of secondary infection from tuberculosis. Dr. R S Bhatia will present his findings at the next annual conference of the Association of Physicians of India scheduled to be held in Chennai early next year.

Dr. Bhatia said his clinical experience had shown that tuberculosis was responsible for most deaths in those with HIV infection. Often these two infections co-exist and were diagnosed together. Higher prevalence of TB increases the risk of tuberculosis and HIV infection and the risk becomes greater as the incidence of HIV infection escalates in India.

Punjab has a maximum number of HIV infected persons in the region followed by Haryana and Himachal Pardesh and this should alarm those concerned with the health management in this region, he said.

Full text of story at:
http://www.tribuneindia.com/20010913/ldh3.htm 

Living with AIDS

To battle the disease you need information and realism



Indian Express, in an editorial dated 7th June 2001 expresses its concern over, what it describes as "complacency and self-delusions" of Indians over the spread of HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country. It warns that it is more likely to further the spread of the disease. It refers to the latest surveillance data from NACO, India and says that despite its moral ethos and marital faithfulness India is home to an estimated 3.86 million people afflicted by this condition. A closer look at data emanating from antenatal clinics in seven major Indian cities indicates that HIV infection has crossed the 2 per cent level in Mumbai, is more than 1 per cent in the cities of Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and is below 1 per cent in Calcutta, Ahmedabad and Delhi.

The editorial draws upon the success of neighboring Thailand believed to be the first country in Asia where HIV/AIDS surfaced. Here HIV/AIDS was perceived, not just as a health issue, but a societal one. A two-pronged approach was adopted. One was about monitoring cases and putting an effective health delivery system in place, the other concentrated on educating the public about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and how people could protect themselves against it. Today HIV/AIDS has not disappeared from Thailand, but instead of the projected four million cases by the year 2000, the number of the afflicted is in the region of one million, and fresh cases are also said to be plateauing

Given the size of the population and the already severe health problems it faces - India has the highest incidence of tuberculosis in the world - there is a great deal more to do, especially in the area of educating people about HIV/AIDS, not just in terms of protecting themselves but in taking care of those unfortunate enough to contract it.

Fighting it, is really a race against time, not just for the world, not just for Africa, but for India too, the editorial concludes.

Full text available at:
http://www.indian-express.com/ie20010607/ed1.shtml

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