VELLORE: Vellore is set to become the first medical zone (comprising six districts) in the State to include Bedaquiline on its Multi-drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDRTB) treatment programme. Medical experts say Bedaquiline will go a long way in offering better chances of cure for Tuberculosis patients, who have developed resistance to the existing drugs.
Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2012 after its discovery by Koen Andries at Janssen Pharmaceutica in Belgium, Bedaquiline is regarded as the first major breakthrough in Tuberculosis treatment in over 40 years. The Central Tuberculosis Division, New Delhi, gave its nod for the launch of Bedaquiline in six cities in the country in January (two in New Delhi and one each in Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu) in the first phase. Subsequently, a Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (PMDT) was launched after getting administrative, legal and ethical clearance from the government, followed by the development of a special training programme to include Bedaquiline on treatment programme at national and state-levels.
As part of the programme at regional-level, a one-day training for Vellore zone (comprising six districts) was held on Tuesday by the district Tuberculosis control unit.
As many as 64 district Tuberculosis officers, medical officers and field workers from Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem and Namakkal participated in the training at the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital (GVMCH), Adukkamparai. The training focused on the administration of the drug, handling possible problems, adverse reactions, monitoring of patients, etc.