BHUBANESWAR: Tuberculosis has been the giant killer in Orissa. In every 24 hours, as many as 7 fall prey to it here. If the report of the State Health Department is any indication, TB accounts for over 70 per cent of the total number of deaths due to communicable and non-communicable diseases last year in the State.
As per the data, 52,000 TB cases were detected last year. It shows that in the second half of 2009, over 1,500 died of TB. The death rate is quite high. Of every 100 TB cases, 3 leads to fatality. Nationally, the fatality rate last year was 2 per 100 cases.
Numerically, the total TB cases detected is quite low in Orissa. On that basis, the State figures nowhere in the top-10 TB infested states in the country. But the number hardly reflects the virtual intensity of the disease.
“The lower cases are primarily due to poor case detection rate in the State. The total case detection rate (TCD) of only 126/lakh is very low and this has been traced to the poor referral of TB suspects from the OPD,” said a NRHM official. He added that the TCD in as many as half of the districts is below 50 per cent. Despite having a TCD below the national average, the higher than average national mortality rate here is an eye-opener for the Health Department.
Latest data reveal that Uttar Pradesh with around 5,000 deaths from 2.8 lakh TB cases has a death rate lower than that of Orissa.
The poor performance of the State is due to below par performance on vital TB indicators in almost two-thirds of the districts. As per NRHM data, the suspects examined per lakh population is very low even in the coastal districts, which are more vulnerable to TB due to the climate factor.
The Government’s fight against TB looks quite hollow on the ground. NRHM evaluation finds that there is very poor supervision at the district level. The reason: there is no full time DTO in 28 of the 30 districts and many key posts lie vacant in the State TB control cells. The situation is quite grim in the tribal and SC populated areas. In Balasore, Bhadrak, Gajapati, Kalahandi and Kandhamal districts the cure rate is around 75 per cent against the required rate of 85 per cent.