Stakeholders urged to step up efforts to improve TB care
New Delhi, Wednesday, Januray 25, 2012: Delhi-based NGO Partnership for TB Care and Control in India has called for an urgent and critical need to scale up services by stakeholders working for TB care.

“TB needs to be actively identified through approved, early, accurate and high quality diagnosis. Proper completion of treatment needs to be ensured for all TB patients,” said a release from the Partnership for TB Care and Control in India.

Blaming the myths and conceptions of TB diagnosis as well as incorrect treatment and care management, the release added, “The reasons for drug resistance in TB are a combination of poor programme reach, inaccurate diagnosis methodologies, improper treatment as well as non adherence to it and indiscriminate drug prescription.”

The need of the hour will depend heavily on correct and effective implementation of existing TB control programmes. “This calls for sustained implementation in the areas of surveillance, epidemiology, screening, laboratory diagnosis, patient management, addressing non adherence, and specific tailoring to requirements of vulnerable population like people living with HIV,” the release said.

Quality and commitment to beneficiaries by providers need to be raised in duration of treatment, availability of free but customised drugs and adherence to DOTS treatment. One way to address stigma and gender issues is to involve the family and immediate community of the patient, the press release suggested.

“Failure to address the outlined issues at this juncture could result in confidence erosion of TB patients, but could also make it difficult for India to reach its Millennium Development Goals by 2015,” the release warned. Gaps in the provider to patient level needs to be comprehended and grasped, so that compliance of long MDR treatment is ensured. “Severe resistance will impact India’s PMDT program, which outlines a strategic plan to address multidrug resistance TB,” it said.

Ref: biospectrumasia