Over 17 lakh tuberculosis patients and over 33,000 drug resistant TB patients were notified last year in the Centre’s TB control programme, according to the annual report on the deadly disease released by the Union Health Ministry on the occasion of the World TB Day on Friday.
India is among the three countries in the world that accounted for half of over 4 lakh such cases globally in 2015.
“The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) notified 17.5 lakh TB patients in 2016 including both from public and private health sectors and 33,820 drug resistant TB patients are notified additionally,” the annual TB report 2017 said.
It said based on the newer in-country evidences, the Government together with World Health Organistaion (WHO) revised the National TB estimates upwards.
Accordingly, an estimated 28 lakh incidents of TB occurred in a year according to Global TB Report 2016 which provides an update on services provided through the year under RNTCP and progress and status of initiatives implemented in 2016.
An additional 500 Cartridge-Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) machines were installed through the year, expanding the rapid molecular diagnostic facilities to 628 laboratories, the report said.
In 2015, TB was estimated to have killed 1.8 million people and six countries - India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa - account for 60 per cent of the total number of cases of tuberculosis worldwide.
The report said that a new drug Bedaquiline was introduced for treatment of MDR-TB at six identified sites while single window delivery of HIV-TB services was expanded at all Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) centres in the country.
The RNTCP identified 100 priority districts for intensified efforts based on the recommendations from the PMO.
The programme is developing its National Strategic Plan for TB elimination in India (2017-25), five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
it said.
As per WHO, each year about 2.2 million people develop TB in India and an
estimated 220,000 die from the disease.
However, very few people know that the disease affects children too. In 2015, almost 10 per cent of total TB cases in India are among children, but only 6 per cent are reported.
“Childhood TB is often not given adequate attention
by healthcare providers as
itis difficult to diagnose and treat,” Said Dr Rahul Nagpal, Director, Pediatrics, Fortis
Flt. lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital, Delhi.
Pressing on the need for innovative treatment technology and diagnostic tools, Dr Sarman Singh, Professor & Head, Division of Clinical Microbiology & Molecular Medicine, Department of laboratory Medicine, AIIMS said, “There is need to improve the sensitivity of existing tools and technology to improve the detection rate, especially in high burden laboratories where more number of TB and multiple drug resistant (MDR) TB can be detected.”