Punjab Government on Tuesday issued instructions to the State’s private hospitals and all medical colleges to notify the patients suffering from TB to the state Health Department to ensure the real time monitoring of the patient data.
“Instructions have already been issued to the Civil Surgeons to take action against institutes not complying with the orders of Government of India in this regard,” said the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra.
Mohindra also directed the State Drug Controller to ensure that the chemists should maintain the record of schedule H1 drugs including anti-TB drugs besides bringing the number of TB patients they were dealing with, in the notice of the district TB officers.
“This is a matter of serious concern that around two million of people are suffering from TB in India those can easily infect the high risk groups of old aged people, children, diabetic and HIV patients...As per record of Health Department, as many as 39,218 patients were registered in public sectors and 6,704 patients were registered in private sectors during 2017,” he said.
Mohindra added that the Punjab Government has been all set to install seven of Cartridge-Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CB-NAAT) machines to diagnose suspected and drug-resistant patients suffering from TB in four districts in addition to one CB-NAAT machine already installed in 22 districts which are having excessive migratory population to control Tuberculosis in high risk areas of the State.
Highlighting the importance of CB-NAAT machines, the Health Minster said that it has been medically recorded that in some cases, microscopic test failed to diagnose TB in affected patients where CB-NAAT machines, being high-tech, are most trustworthy alternate of early diagnostic mechanism, thus, help in methodical treatment of patients.
“After observing the success rate of CB-NAAT machines, now the state government has decided to install additional seven CB-NAAT machines at high risk areas in ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar districts which are having the high number of migratory population,” he added.
He said that due to strong constant efforts of programme managers at the state and district level, the state has been able to improve its performance compared to 2016 with the success rate of 88 percent.
“Considering the circumstances, it’s our moral duty, if anyone having cough for two or more weeks, one has to get oneself tested from the DoT centres for the early diagnose and treatment which is provided free of cost in all Government hospitals,” he added.
