Patient Wise Boxes for TB patients in Haryana

Chandigarh, Mar 23 (UNI) Haryana is the first state in the country where paediatric Patient Wise Boxes for the treatment of children suffering from tuberculosis (TB) will be given under Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course (DOTS) strategy from next month.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said this in a message issued here today on the occasion of the World TB Day.

The Chief Minister said that separate boxes would be provided for the children suffering from TB under the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTCP) which would help in checking this problem in children. He informed that the Central Government had also selected Haryana for the pilot project of DOTS Plus for multi-drug resistant TB.

In her message Health Minister, Kartar Devi stated that three medical colleges, 45 TB units, 206 microscopic centres and more than 5,000 DOT centres were functioning in the state under RNTCP. The government was providing free investigation and free treatment in all hospitals, community and primary health centres, she added.

She said that RNTCP, covering the entire population of 2.2 crore of the state in a short time span, had received the appreciation from the Union Government as well as the World Health Organization (WHO).

UNI HS CH KP1336