TB
News from India: July-August 2006
Health and Development Initiative-India, (www.healthinitiative.org),
publishes 'TB News from India' (TBNI) once every two months. The objective of
newsletter is to highlight issues related to Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS control
in India and enlist political, 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:
Tuberculosis appaers in the UNGASS Declaration
on HIV/AIDS
A high level meeting on AIDS took place from 31 May-2 June 2006 at the United Nations. The main focus of the meeting was to review progress achieved in realiizing the commitments set out in the Declration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS in June 2001. The meeting involved all sectors of the international community, governments, civil society and the private sector.
The opportunities provided for civil society organizations to take part in the meeting was unprecedented. For the first time, a person living with HIV addressed the General Assembly plenary, normally reserved for Member States and UN officials. There was also a civil society hearing, which provided civil society an opportunity to exchange views with Member States. The meeting had to face acrimonius demonstrations by activists at UNGASS due to the perceived short-comings of the new United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, issued at the conclusion of the meeting.
The document is seen as a political roadmap, rather than a plan of action. However, paragraph 33 of the Declaration contains some welcome language on TB. It indicates that Heads of State and Government participating in the review and High-Level Meeting; "Emphasize the need for accelerated scale-up of collaborative activities on tuberculosis and HIV in line with the Global Plan to stop TB 2006-2015 and investment in new drugs, diagnostics and vaccines appropriate for people with TB/HIV co-infection".
Finally the political leadership the world over is awakening to the stark reality that TB and HIV/AIDS pandemics cannot be managed in isolation. It is hoped this commitment will soon translate into positive action. The collaborative activities cannot take off until international donors dole out extra financial resources and national governments come out with a clear cut plan of action. There is no place for ambiguity in terms of policy guidelines. The training of health care providers in districts would have to be accelerated and matched by provision of resources. The nutritional requirements of these patients would also have to be met through innovations in public distribution system. Without compassion, adequate food, shelter and drugs the patients of TB and AIDS have little hope to survive these killers.
Consumed
by tuberculosis
By Ginnie Mahajan
DNA India, June 19, 2006
Every minute in India, one person dies of tuberculosis. Two of every five Indians are infected with the TB bacillus. At least 10 per cent of these will definitely develop TB in their lifetime. Everyday around 5,000 people develop the disease and 1,000 die. In India, TB kills more adults in the most productive age group (15-54) than any other infectious disease. India also tops the world list as the country with the highest number of TB cases.
Yet, TB remains one of the least talked about diseases in the country. This despite the fact that almost 3,70,000 people die every year of this disease, according to official figures. Dr JN Banavaliker, medical superintendent at the Rajan Babu TB (RBTB) hospital (Asia's biggest TB hospital), is an unhappy man. "In 1996, 500 people died of dengue in Delhi. There was a huge hue and cry in the Capital and the Central government sought explanations. During the same period, 3,000 people died of TB, and yet not a single eyebrow was raised."
The social stigma attached with the disease is still prevalent. Banavaliker rues the fact that most celebrities will support any social cause but if you ask any of them who have been cured of TB, to come out and speak about it, they refuse. The magnitude of the stigma attached to the disease is such that young girls who have TB are not allowed by their families to go to a TB centre to get their medication, because this would reduce their chances of getting a good match in marriage.
A
common misconception attached to the disease is that it is a poor man's disease.
Doctors take pains in stressing that this is not so. Though TB is more prevalent
in the lower economic group, it has a strong grip on the middle and upper middle
class as well. Both Indira Gandhi and Kamala Nehru are testament to the same.
"Since we have servants coming into the house, the middle class is as susceptible.
Also it is common practice in India to spit on the road. Once the spit dries,
it releases bacteria which would spread the disease," say doctors.
Access the story online at: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1036546
Dance of Death: As AIDS ravages India, stories of people who live and die in its shadow: By Anton Antonowicz In Maharashtra, India
...We
travel to a hospital specializing in preventing mother-to-child transmission
of the virus. Untreated, a baby born to an HIV-positive mother has a one-in-three
chance of contracting the disease. Sundera Bhai has just given birth to a son.
She has not had time yet to give him a name, but it certainly won't be that
of her husband who infected her with HIV before dying. Sundera has scraped together
a few rupees for the first anti-retroviral drugs for the baby. As a result,
her nameless son now has a 70 per cent chance of growing up HIV-free. We find
her doctor, Pradeep Ugile, at his new 20-bed clinic in Latur town. He has plans
to triple the size of the clinic and make it a centre of excellence for the
treatment of HIV/Aids in India. Among the current patients lying in those 20-beds
are a hotel worker, a trucker, a farmer, a local politician, a volleyball champion,
and a building contractor. There are three housewives and two babies. They are
all suffering from TB, which flourishes among AIDS sufferers...
Online at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17214698&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=dance-of-death--name_page.html
Tuberculosis
medicine at places of worship: A major advantage for patients is easy
accessibility:
By R. Krishnamoorthy in The Hindu
TIRUCHI (Tamilnadu): In conformity with the approach of Directly Observed Treatment Shortcourse (DOTS), advocated by World Health Organisation for effective eradication of tuberculosis, the Deputy Directorate of Medical Services, Tuberculosis, Tiruchi, has started distributing medicines to patients through places of worship too.
Medicines were distributed through a few mosques at Shanmuga Nagar along Vayalur Road, Sangiliandapuram, and Ariyamangalam, during the past month and the response is said to be encouraging. In due course, medicines will be distributed through temples and churches, under the Revised National TB Control Programme through DOTS, B. Abdul Samad, Deputy Director of Medical Services, Tuberculosis, told The Hindu.
Dr. Samad has conducted motivational sessions for priests. With the move assuming the dimension of `service to mankind,' officials are confident that total eradication of this contagious disease is possible. Hitherto, the drugs were supplied at K.A.P. Viswanatham Government Medical College Hospital, Corporation hospitals, taluk hospitals and primary health centres to over 3,500 identified tuberculosis patients, including 1,000 in the city.
In villages, the village health nurses, staff nurses, teachers and self-help groups reach out to patients. Though the patients start the medication course well, the ignorant ones among them tend to discontinue after a month or two buoyed by the impact of the drug. However, a complete cure can be certain only after six months of sustained medication, explained Dr. Samad. A major advantage of distributing medicines through places of worship is easy accessibility. Patients are not bound by time constraints, and could avail treatment under observation any time of the day. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/10/stories/2006061021830100.htm
India's
New TB Control Guidelines Call on Private Sector to Participate in TB Control
Efforts
The
Hindu, May 5, 2006
The private health care sector must participate in India's efforts to control tuberculosis under the country's revised national TB control program, health experts said at a meeting on establishing partnerships in TB control, The Hindu reports. The DOTS strategy still is central to the TB control program, but experts said the program only would be effective if it involved a multisectoral approach to controlling the disease, according to The Hindu.
Fraser Wares,
a medical officer for the World Health Organization's Regional Office for South-East
Asia, said the new guidelines call for more medical colleges and private practitioners
to be involved in TB control efforts. The program ultimately aims to have all
medical workers providing adequate TB care. Currently only a small number of
medical practitioners are involved in TB control, The Hindu reports.
Access this story and related links online: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=37419
Punjab
TB control programme reviewed
Express News Service, May 30, 2006
The Government of India organized a sensitization workshop and state-level Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) review meeting for civil surgeons and district TB officers at Chandigarh. Rita Teotia, Joint Secretary Health, Government of India, was the chief guest D.S. Guru, Secretary Health, Punjab, while talking to Express News Service said the Revised National TB Control Programme is functional in all the 18 districts of the state and free TB tests as well as treatment is being provided under this programme.
He
said there are 51 TB units in the state, each headed by a medical officer. There
are 279 microscopy centers, of which 258 are in the Government Primary Health
Centers and other hospitals, where the treatment for TB is given free. He said
there are 14,506 DOTS centers and each village has a DOT provider. He appealed
to the public to take advantage of the RNTCP under which free treatment and
diagnosis is provided.
Access this story online: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=185400
A
pat on the back for TB Control Programme in Chandigarh
Times
News Network, June 17, 2006
Union Territory Chandigarh health secretary Krishna Mohan said that it is the need of the hour to control tuberculosis effectively. He was deliberating on the measures to control TB during the executive committee meeting of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) under the State Health Society (SHS), which was constituted recently under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), here on Friday. In his speech, Mohan applauded the performance of Chandigarh for combating tuberculosis and introducing quality in diagnosis and treatment to prevent the spread of the disease. He vouched for creating awareness about symptoms of TB in urban slum areas to help people know that diagnosis and full course treatment of TB is available free of cost in different health centers of the city. He said that funds could be made available from National Rural Health Mission for generating awareness in rural slum areas.
Inderjeet Kaur Walia, director, health services, apprised that Chandigarh ranks among the top few best performing states in the country when it comes to combating TB. She elaborated that the case detection rate of Chandigarh is 240 per 100,000 population, whereas at the national level, the same is 128. Similarly, smear positive case detection rate of Chandigarh is 72 per 100,000 population whereas it is 50 at the national level. The cure rate of new smear positive patients in Chandigarh is 88% as compared to 84% at the national level.
PK
Shridhar, state TB officer said lives of over 1,500 patients have been saved
since the launching of RNTCP in Chandigarh in 2002 and approximately 9,000 patients
have been put on treatment.
Access this story online: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1655809.cms
Unplanned dieting may lead to TB: Study
The indiscreet ways of dieting may land you in the grip of Tuberculosis, a recent study suggests. As many as 150 confirmed cases where dieters ended up with TB have been reported in the last five years in Lucknow (Capital of North Indian state, Uttar Pradesh) alone - a shocking trend in the city, which can boast itself to be a big metro in the makings.
What is more shocking is that TB cases have been reported mainly among the urban women in the age group of 13 to 35 years, according to an observational study by Dr Surya Kant, professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, King George’s Medical University. In the country, where the eradication of TB has been foremost on the agenda of medical fraternity, such cases have come as a shocker.
Tuberculosis,
which is almost found among the low income group people and mainly due to malnutrition,
has exposed this facet of the urban life, where the advantage of affluence is
being lost in the mad race of fitness and beauty. The idea was certainly not
bad, but the approach to such kind of fitness regime was something, which should
be properly guided, Dr Surya Kant said.
Access this story online: http://www.hinduonnet.com/holnus/008200606150310.htm
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Editors: Dr. Dinesh Kumar, dineshkumarsharma@gmail.com
Dr.
Jatinder Singh, jatindersingh@vsnl.com
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