Unless tuberculosis (TB) patients realise that they have to adhere to the mandatory drug regimen, they can neither be cured of the disease, nor can its eradication be achieved, according to the district health authorities.
‘Unite to Eradicate Tuberculosis’ is the theme of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day observance (March 24), and various awareness programmes would be held on the day and the previous day, District Tuberculosis Officer P.P. Pramod Kumar said in a release.
With multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB) and extreme drug-resistant (XDR-TB) cases being reported, patients should understand the benefits of completing the six-month first-line drug course under the Directly Observed Treatment-Short Course (DOTS).
Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads through cough droplets sprayed by a patient. Every patient who does not undergo treatment poses the risk of spreading it to 10-15 persons a year, the Health official said.
Awareness
Greater awareness should be generated among the public on the causes and symptoms of the disease and the treatment options, including the government’s programmes such as the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme.
People should be aware of the fact that even if TB drugs had hit the market 40 years ago, the disease is yet to be eradicated because patients do not get treated, or drop out midway.
The drop-out leads to drug-resistant TB. These come back as re-treatment positive cases.
The National Tuberculosis Control Programme introduced in 1962 was not effective as X-ray, the main diagnosis method, remained out of bounds to many people. Treatment facilities were available only in major district hospitals.
The RNTCB, introduced after an expert committee in 1992 went into the drawbacks of the NTCB, sought to reach out to all sections. Persistent cough for more than two weeks, with blood in sputum, fever in the evening, loss of weight and appetite should serve as an alert. They should approach the free sputum testing centres that have come up at government and private hospitals under the RNTCB.
Since TB in a notified disease and cases must be reported to the government Health Department, area-level health workers can monitor whether the patients adhere to the DOTS course.
‘Unite to Eradicate Tuberculosis’ is the theme of this year’s World Tuberculosis Day observance (March 24), and various awareness programmes would be held on the day and the previous day, District Tuberculosis Officer P.P. Pramod Kumar said in a release.
With multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB) and extreme drug-resistant (XDR-TB) cases being reported, patients should understand the benefits of completing the six-month first-line drug course under the Directly Observed Treatment-Short Course (DOTS).
Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads through cough droplets sprayed by a patient. Every patient who does not undergo treatment poses the risk of spreading it to 10-15 persons a year, the Health official said.
Awareness
Greater awareness should be generated among the public on the causes and symptoms of the disease and the treatment options, including the government’s programmes such as the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme.
People should be aware of the fact that even if TB drugs had hit the market 40 years ago, the disease is yet to be eradicated because patients do not get treated, or drop out midway.
The drop-out leads to drug-resistant TB. These come back as re-treatment positive cases.
The National Tuberculosis Control Programme introduced in 1962 was not effective as X-ray, the main diagnosis method, remained out of bounds to many people. Treatment facilities were available only in major district hospitals.
The RNTCB, introduced after an expert committee in 1992 went into the drawbacks of the NTCB, sought to reach out to all sections. Persistent cough for more than two weeks, with blood in sputum, fever in the evening, loss of weight and appetite should serve as an alert. They should approach the free sputum testing centres that have come up at government and private hospitals under the RNTCB.
Since TB in a notified disease and cases must be reported to the government Health Department, area-level health workers can monitor whether the patients adhere to the DOTS course.