BHUBANESWAR:Health Secretary Dr Pramod Meherda on Friday said priority will be given to reduce Drug Resistant TB (DRTB) cases.
Speaking on the occasion of World TB Day, Dr Meherda said patients will be sensitised to remain under regular medication. ‘’We have already launched daily drug regime for TB patients from March 1 to maintain better treatment success rates and achieve relapse free cure. If patients start taking DOTS daily, there will be less chance of DRTB,’’ he said.
So far, 6,95,650 TB cases have been detected and treated since the inception of Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme in 1997 while 5,50,958 cases were cured and 32,885 persons died. As many as 46,733 patients were detected last year.
The programme is being implemented through 50,204 centres under 314 TB units. Besides, a real time online notification, recording and reporting system ‘Nikshay’ has been launched in the State with most of the districts updating data for all patients registered.
Joint Director (TB) Dr Sanjukta Sahu said collaborative services of TB and HIV have been strengthened in all districts as the proportion of TB patients tested for HIV is increasing in the State. Of 10,608 registered TB patients during the fourth quarter of 2016, 10,227 were tested HIV and 141 TB-HIV co-infected, she said.
Director of Health Services Dr Kailash Chandra Dash said Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CB NAAT) facility, which is available at 25 locations, will help in quick detection as it will reduce diagnosis time to two hours.
On the occasion, Dr Meherda felicitated singer Prafulla Kar and actor Kuna Tripathy for helping Government create awareness on TB. A housewife of Balangir Amulya Nanda, who has championed as a voluntary DOTS provider in treating TB patients, was also felicitated.