BHUBANESWAR: Even as tuberculosis notification has gone up in the State following intense awareness campaigns, the treatment success rate has dropped considerably exposing the sorry state of affairs.
The recently released National Health Profile (NHP) 2018 indicated that Odisha has notified 71,131 cases in 2017 posting a growth of over 62 per cent from previous year. As many as 43,826 cases were recorded in 2016.
The treatment success rate has come down from 89 per cent in 2016 to 72 per cent last year which is below the national average of 79 pc. Odisha has been featured among the bottom States after Uttar Pradesh with 64 pc, Arunachal Pradesh at 65 pc, Sikkim at 66 pc and Tripura at 71 pc.
Of 71,131 cases while 67,162 have been registered in public health facilities, only 3,969 cases were notified by private health institutions. The State has reported 88 pc new TB cases while 94 pc patients have been put under treatment after diagnosis.
Among the notified cases, highest 80 pc cases are diagnosed as pulmonary TB, 20 pc extra pulmonary TB, five per cent paediatric TB and only 12 pc recurrent cases. The NHP 2018 stated that annual TB notification per one lakh population is 159 in Odisha against the national average of 138.
About 328 Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) cases have been reported along with 17 Extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR) TB patients. Sources at the State TB Cell said Ganjam topped the list with 7,359 cases followed by Mayurbhanj with 7,195 cases, Sundargarh with 5,212 and Keonjhar with 3,569 cases.
However, Deogarh, Boudh, Sonepur and Jagatsinghpur districts are at the bottom with 419, 507, 828 and 845 cases respectively. Additional Director, Health Services (TB), Dr PK Hota said the success rate came down despite awareness as many patients discontinued medication once they felt better after preliminary doses.
“TB is curable. But patients have to follow the medication protocol,” he said. Meanwhile, an action plan has been prepared to achieve 90 pc notification rate for all cases (public and private), 90 pc success rate for all new and 85 pc success among previously treated cases, significantly improve the successful outcomes of treatment of drug resistance TB cases and decrease the morbidity and mortality of HIV associated TB.
Since the private sector has only nine per cent annual notification rate per one lakh population, the Health Department has warned the private practitioners to notify all cases or face the music which may invite imprisonment or penalty or both.