Health Ministry readies roadmap to combat TB menace

With no let up in tuberculosis (TB) cases which is causing huge burden on the economy, the Union Health Ministry has chalked out a detailed roadmap for India Inc to help the Government tackle the most dangerous air-borne disease. The challenges to tackle the disease remain huge. India is presently home to around 26 per cent of the world TB patients — 1 in 4 globally. However, what is worrying is that of the nine million cases of tuberculosis in 2013, only 5.7 million were both detected and notified to national TB programmes. WHO also reported that India tops the list of the world’s ‘missed’ TB cases. 

The cases were ‘missed’, either because they were not diagnosed or because they were diagnosed but not reported. “The Ministry feels that among other TB control activities being undertaken currently, there is a strong need to involve business sector which can play an imminent role in curbing the disease as it cannot be tackled at the government level alone,” said a senior official from the Ministry.

The Government has already chalked out an ambitious role for the corporates to combat the disease. For instance, companies will be asked to adopt jails for screening inmates as well as urban slums for screening of the disease among other TB control activities. “The prisoners are 70 times more vulnerable to tuberculosis than those who are out of bars, he demographics of the prison population (low socio-economic status, large number of migrants, homeless, drug use), in addition to the situational and environmental vulnerabilities of the prison (as overcrowding, poor ventilation) increases the risk of contacting TB among prisoners,” the official added.

Besides, corporates will also be asked to adopt blocks or district for intensified TB case finding in population. They can also conduct testing their employees for the disease. India implemented DOTS - Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course - a WHO strategy that was launched as the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) in 1997. 

The RNTCP provides treatment for more than 1.5 million people annually. The nation-wide program has over 13,000 labs and screens almost 25,000 people for TB each day and detects, on an average, 3,000 positive cases. TB is also seen as a major health threat as it is an opportunistic infection for people living with HIV.Approximately 90 per cent of people living with HIV die within a few months of becoming sick with TB if they do not receive proper TB treatment.