Costly TB treatment discourages patients from continuing treatment
POSTED March 24, 2011 - 12:48 | POSTED BY Varma.gbsnp
Last edited by Silky Chandvani on March 24, 2011 - 15:35
At Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) centers in Varanasi district, 5,279 new TB patients were registered till February end in 2010-11, whereas 5,542 TB patients were registered in 2009-10. The district has 519 DOTS centers.
R.S. Verma, the chief medical officer (CMO) said, the district health department has an annual target to treat 5,630 TB patients. More cases are of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB).
According to S.K.Agarwal, of the department of chest diseases, Institute of Medical Science, Banaras Hindu University, the treatment for MDR-TB costs about Rs.100-200, which poor people cannot afford.
"It is a matter of great concern that the cases of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) are coming due to lack of proper awareness among the suffering people as well as medical practitioners,” he said.
The health department doesn’t have the resources to treat MDR-TB patients.
TB in India
In India, TB kills two persons every three minutes. In fact, the country is facing one of the worst number cases of TB in the world. It is very challenging to control TB in India, given the present conditions.
Modern TG treatment cures people well but it should be taken for a minimum of six months. It is during these months that the treatment fails, in that the patient stops taking medicine.
About DOTS
The comprehensive package for TB control in India includes DOTS strategy coupled with Stop TB strategy, and is implemented under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP).
The main component of DOTS is that it takes care of the patient compliance to the treatment. Usually a healthcare worker witnesses the patient taking the medicine.
Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB)
In case the patient stops the treatment, it may result in MDR TB.
Two most common anti-TB drugs are isoniazid and rifampicin. MDRTB refers to a strain of the bacterium that is resistant to the anti-TB drugs. The treatment is costly, toxic, and often unsuccessful. MDRTB is tragedy for patients. DOTS has reduced the incidence of MDRTB.
With the emergence of new cases despite the best efforts, India faces an uphill task in controlling TB.
