Experts have expressed their concern over the tendency that is usually adopted by the people of Jharkhand for the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) despite the availability of numerous facilities given by the Government of India (GoI) under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) to the patients who are diagnosed with the disease.
According to the resource persons who have been associated with numerous community health projects focusing predominately on TB, the percentage of people consulting private hospitals for TB treatment is quite high here.
“In Jharkhand, the private health sector is the main source of health care for a majority of households (61 per cent), including 67 per cent of urban households and 59 per cent of rural households. More households reported that their members go to private doctors or clinics (45 per cent) than to any other type of facility,” said Medical Consultant of REACH, Dr. Jayalakshmi Shreedhar following the consolidated reports during Jharkhand Media Roundtable on Friday.
Shreedhar who is associated with REACH for more than a decade now further added that an intensive campaign is needed to motivate private doctors to notify the TB cases here. Also, she further added that the private medical practitioners must be given training involving all aspects to recognize TB cases and to further lessen its burden.
As per the RNTCP – Programme Performance of Jharkhand data up to June 2018 suggests that 18,381 total TB cases have been notified from public health sector whereas 6,720 total TB cases have been notified from the private health sector. The data further reads that the annual TB notification rate in 2018 up to June month for both public and private hospitals is 132. The treatment success rate in public sector is 92 per cent.
Dr. Rajabhau Yeole, WHO Consultant – Jharkhand spoke about TB burden in Jharkhand and explained in detailed about the estimation of TB burden based on drug sales and other key issues. Following the data in context to Jharkhand, Yeole said, “The total estimated number of TB patients in private sector is 40,793 while the TB patients notified from public sector in 2016 are 35,130. Private-Public ratio is 1:2.”
The discussions at the roundtable covered the basics of TB, the disease burden rate and issues such as transmission, risk factors and an overview of the RNTCP. The socio-economic status of TB, stigma and the recent course of developments on nutrition support and private sector engagement were also taken up during the meet with the media persons.
The meeting which was organised in keeping with the prioritisation of TB as a crucial public health issue, the State TB Officer, Dr. Rakesh Dayal discussed elaborately about the media’s involvement in ensuring a mass outreach on the TB programme to all those affected by the disease.
The meeting also saw the participation of TB survivors. They shared their stories of resilience and transformation from TB-affected persons to community advocates and champions of the disease. Rekha Verma, a TB Champion spoke about her struggle with stigma and misconceptions during the battle with TB.
“I have decided to advocate on TB and its symptoms, treatment and the government programme after I recovered from the disease. I am committed to make sure that others do not face the same challenges that I did when I was undergoing treatment,” she said.