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TB News from India:
May-June 2005 Issue Health and
Development Initiative-India, (www.healthinitiative.org), publishes 'TB
News from India' 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:
Ignorant Doctors!
A recent study of prescription habits in the heart of Mumbai city found
110 doctors giving 95 different prescriptions to patients suffering with
tuberculosis. "This is the case of a disease where prescription and
treatment guidelines are standardised and clearly laid down. If this is
happening in the heart of the commercial capital of the country, what
would be the fate of poor patients in rural areas of the country?"
questions Dr D. Bannerji, Professor Emeritus at prestigious Jawahar Lal
Nehru University in New Delhi.
Results of another study that was conducted in the year 2002 amongst 500
doctors by the Department of Pulmonary Disease, Post Graduate Department
of Microbiology and Institute of Clinical Epidemiology of King George
Medical University, Lucknow have been made public now.
Here are some of the key findings:
• Around 45 per cent of the doctors treating pulmonary tuberculosis
patients in the city do not practice the current Revised National
Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP)/WHO recommended drugs regimen.
• Only 50 per cent doctors prescribe sputum smear test to the patients and
most of them do not weigh their patients.
The results of these two studies need to be viewed in the backdrop of an
important milestone achieved by RNTCP in March 2005. The DOTS services are
available to more than one billion people in 563 districts of the country
now. If the doctors working in public and private health sectors continue
to be ignorant of DOTS programme, how would their TB patients benefit from
this massive expansion of RNTCP?
A young
MP reminds his peers about tuberculosis control in the country
Mr.Dushyant Singh, a young parliamentarian and son of Rajasthan Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje scindia, got a pat on the back from Lok Sabha
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for raising a serious issue like tuberculosis
in the house.
"TB has become a major issue of concern for us. Directly Observed
Treatment Short Course (DOTS) services available now in most parts of
the country can help control the epidemic" Dushyant Singh reminded the
house as the world observed the Tuberculosis Day.
"I urge upon the entire house to join the fight against these dreadful
diseases. We should try and get the common man access to treatment and
care for TB and HIV" Dushyant Singh added.
Overwhelmed by the concern he had raised, Chatterjee congratulated him,
saying: "I compliment you for raising such a serious and important
issue. I want all the MPs to learn from him (Scindia)," he said amid
applause.
Read the
complete story
TB
Hospitals? DOTS centers are the answer
Lucknow, Express News Service and Times News Network, March 2005
The bed occupancy rate in 20 tuberculosis hospitals of the Uttar Pradesh
(most populous state of the country) dropped by 50 per cent in the last
year. The government statistics to this effect are indicative of the
`success of DOTS'.
According to State TB Control Officer DP Gupta, ``the government of
India has asked the UP government to reduce the number of TB hospital
gradually. For as per the government policy, there is no need to admit
all TB patients, except for the serious ones. Then, as their condition
improves, they can be discharged and asked to
continue treatment through the DOT centers."
"Though the decision to reduce the number of tuberculosis hospitals in
state was taken about a year back it was not implemented strictly as an
abrupt end would moot a negative perception. The role of TB hospitals in
the control of the disease would fizzle out slowly," said the officer.
He said that government was continuously strengthening the DOTS
programme in the state. He also enumerated three possible benefits of
the plan: First of all, it would not affect economics of the patient as
they could continue working even while on treatment. Secondly, it would
reduce the burden from TB hospitals and finally, government funds thus
saved would be diverted to other health projects.
Read the
complete story 1
Read the
complete story 2
Key
government hospital in national capital short of essential TB drugs
Times News Network, March, 2005
Sunder Lal had been under treatment for tuberculosis for a month when he
was told that the Lok Nayak Hospital New Delhi where he had been under
treatment had run out of one of the two essential drugs for treatment.
Not willing to buy the medicines on his own, he left the treatment
midway.
It has been three months since then and the drug Isoniazid is still
unavailable at the hospital. To make matters worse, now the other
essential drug required for treating tuberculosis, Rifampicin has also
become unavailable.
Hospital medical superintendent Dr V K Ramteke, said: "All the
tuberculosis patients that we get, are referred to be treated under the
Government of India's (DOTS) programme, so the hospital has nothing to
do with it. For in-door patients suffering from non-pulmonary TB, we are
trying to procure the drugs, but due to an ongoing litigation in the
high court, our drug tender could not been processed."
Read the
complete story
Mumbai Pharmacists come forward to participate in
tuberculosis control
Contributed by Mrs Manjiri Gharat
Private health care providers continue to be first contact point for a
majority of chest symptomatic patients in India. These patients either
seek treatment from private doctors or on their own buy medicines from
chemist shops (private pharmacies). As they remain beyond the preview of
DOTS, often they tend to leave the treatment midway. Indian
Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) has now begun efforts to integrate
private pharmacies with DOTS programme. A pilot `TB Fact Card Project'
has been launched in parts of
Mumbai to create awareness about the disease, counsel patients and
monitor treatment of TB patient using services of retail chemist shops.
The IPA, Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association & International
Pharmaceutical Students' Federation sponsored project has begun its
activities amongst sixty retail chemist shops of North-East Zone of
Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
The project uses three types of cards. `The Fact Card' has been designed
to promote TB symptom awareness and support patients' long-term
adherence to treatment. While `Medication Record Card' is handed over to
the patient, retail pharmacist or a pharmacy student retains `Patient
Record Card'.
The pharmacists advise the patient to take medicines under observation
of a family member and request the concerned family member to put a mark
on an easy to use `Medication Record card'. On their part the retail
pharmacists are expected to maintain communication with the patient,
monitor his/her weight, keep a record of treatment progress and look out
for any signs of side effects of drugs so that patient can be sent back
to the treating physician. The project emphasizes adherence to treatment
prescribed by physician, discourages any prescribing by the pharmacists
or self-medication by the patients.
Participating private pharmacies are also encouraged to refer poor
patients to nearest DOTS centre so that they are able to avail
diagnostic and treatment services free of cost.
The project team proposes to extend its activities to other area in
Mumbai and Pune once is firmly in place in its pilot area.
Watch
out, Beijing type TB in town!
Chandigarh, Times News Network, April 2005
A highly virulent kind of tuberculosis, known as Beijing type, is
prevalent in the northern region of the country, specifically Chandigarh.
Mercifully, the genotype has not circulated amongst a large chunk of
population. If that happens, it will be a big problem. Highlighting this
was no other than Prof NK Ganguly, Director General of Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR) during an oration at PGI.
There is one defaulter of DOTS for every three who comply with the
therapy. "It is usually the males who default, mainly older patients and
alcoholics are more likely to default. Several people have the tendency
to abandon treatment with DOTS and go to private practitioners. Mahavir
Hospital in Hyderabad took the lead of involving private practitioners
and since then the public-private partnership in managing DOTS has
become very important," said Dr Ganguly.
Several trials on various aspects of tuberculosis are being done across
the country. This includes 18 being done on pulmonary TB involving 9,000
patients and two on HIV/TB involving 500 people. Speaking about various
areas of research, Dr Ganguly said, "The focal area is to have a
medicine which will reduce the number of months for which medicine is
given to the patient. It is the lengthy treatment which puts off
patients and provokes them to stop taking the treatment and in the
course become vulnerable to drug resistance."
Read the complete
story
Joint Action
to Eradicate TB
Telegraph, Calcutta, April 2005
East Singhbhum in Jharkhnad state has been chosen for a pilot project for the
Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) in collaboration with
NGOs, corporate-run hospitals, private practitioners, and private nursing
homes. The move is being made because the respective district health
departments previously monitoring the program were unable to manage the TB
crisis effectively. East Singhblum was selected for implementation of the
project because the district has several corporate-owned hospitals and good
private sector medical infrastructure. Private companies, trade union
leaders, private practitioners, and corporate-run hospitals will be invited
to take part. Medicines used in implementation of the directly observed
therapy, short course (DOTS) strategy will be provided to private partners
free of cost.
Source: TB-Related News and Journal Items Weekly Update (CDC), Week of
April 24 to 30, 2005
Web Call:
New Web Resource on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria
www.globalhealthreporting.org
Kaiser Family Foundation with support from Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation has launched a new web site
www.globalhealthreporting.org
to help journalists efficiently search the latest and most accurate
information on global health. The resources available will also help
researchers, policymakers, and NGOs.
The web site is updated daily with the latest information on HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis (TB), and malaria. It provides daily summaries of news from
around the world and links to new reports and web casts from key global
health organizations. Current regional and global statistics on HIV/AIDS,
TB and malaria including prevalence, incidence, and mortality are also
included. A section of web site features `country spotlights' which focus
on key countries like India.
A rich collection of glossaries, descriptions of medical and
epidemiological terminology, reporting manuals, and multi-media resources
is also available to help journalists cover global health issues.
TBNI Editorial Team
Dr. Dinesh Kumar,
dinesh_kumar@vsnl.com
Dr. Jatinder Singh,
jatindersingh@vsnl.com
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