Daily treatment for those affected by TB will begin in the State on Tuesday. This is in keeping with the new guidelines of the Revised National TB Control Programme and a shift in the treatment protocol from intermittent to daily treatment.
The first dose of the new drug regimen will be administered to patients during the formal launch of the daily regimen for TB in Jharkhand by Health Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshion October 17 at Health Directorate, Namkum.
State TB Officer, Dr Rajkumar Beck, made the announcement in a press conference organised by REACH in collaboration with the State TB Cell. “New patients, who will register with the state from tomorrow, will be put on daily drug regimen treatment for TB. The medicine will be made available in the state in a uniform manner,” he said. He also said that those on the alternate day regimen would continue to get the same regimen and would not be put on the new treatment.
Dr Rakesh Dayal, Nodal TB Officer, Jharkhand briefed the media about RNTCP, and introduced them to the new daily regimen. “The difference between the alternate day treatment and daily drug regimen is that there will be fewer tablets in the latter, which will make the treatment somewhat easier for the patient,” he said.
“Our aim is to identify TB patients, provide free treatment and cure the patients in order to prevent the spread of the disease,” Dr Dayal added.
Dr Rajeev Ranjan Pathak, RNTCP’S WHO Consultant also participated in the event sensitized the media on the basics of TB and about the role of RNTCP. “The new regimen is a paradigm shift from the previous treatment,” he noted.
With nearly 1400 deaths every day, TB continues to be a grave public health crisis in India.