Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Government fights to control drug resistant TB



All states/UTs have introduced services with variable access across 260 districts in the country to control drug-resistant TB. A cumulative total of 6994 drug-resistant TB cases have been put on treatment in the country under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). The Ministry is continuously monitoring these services in the country.


Government of India has laid emphasis on early diagnosis and complete treatment of drug-sensitive TB cases under RNTCP to prevent emergence of drug-resistant TB.



Cases of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are sporadically reported in the country. Recently 12 cases of XDR-TB were reported in Mumbai. In the terminology of WHO, the term “totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB)”does not exist. 12 cases recently reported in Mumbai were all extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) cases.

The Government of India introduced diagnosis and management of cases of drug-resistant TB in 2007. The diagnosis and treatment protocols for all forms of drug-resistant TB including XDR-TB have been developed, disseminated and are in-force in the country.


Thirty seven (37) accredited quality-assured culture and drug susceptibility testing laboratories to diagnose drug-resistant TB cases and 50 specialized wards with air-borne infection control measures for initiation and monitoring of such TB patients on treatment are functional in the country. Quality-assured diagnosis and drugs for treatment of drug-resistant TB cases are provided free of cost to all confirmed drug-resistant TB cases registered under the programme.

The above information was given by the Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha.


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