Govt consolidating RNTCP, to tackle challenge of MDR-TB: Ramadoss

New Delhi, Oct 17 (UNI) Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss today admitted that Multi-Drug Resistance TB is spreading in the country and said the government is trying to consolidate the Revised National TB Control Programme by sanctioning Rs 1150 crore to tackle the disease.

Addressing a press briefing with the Joint Monitoring Mission of WHO experts who reviewed the performance and plans of RNTCP during the past two weeks, Dr Ramadoss said Multi-Drug Resistance TB and HIV-TB co-infection were major challenges for the RNTCP. He said financial stability to the RNTPC would be provided as the cabinet committee on economic affairs had recently approved Rs 1150 crore, of which Rs 950 crore would be the government money along with the World Bank loan while Rs 200 crore would be contributed by donor organisations.

He said the government is going to restructure the procurement policy and make e-module the logistics and procurement of TB drugs.

The RNTCP, which covers the entire country, would be further consolidated so that it could reach to all the sections of the population, he said.

The National Rural Health Mission would play a crucial role in TB control programme as the country occounts for one-fifth cases of the world, he said. NRHM would have component-specific plan for diseases like TB, malaria, and AIDS.

Lauding the achievements of RNTCP, he said, it has treated six million people since its inception and of these 1.3 million patients were treated last year itself with 85 per cent success rate.

The death rate due to tuberculosis has reduced from 29 per cent to four per cent, he said and success rate of 79 per cent has been achieved in case reduction which is more than the global average.

Though Multi Drug Resistance TB afflicts about three per cent of patients in India, in absolute numbers they are significant and pose immense challenge as its treatment cost was over 300 times more than that for non-resistant Tuberculosis.

RNTCP has developed a national plan for implementing DOTS-Plus services for management of MDR-TB across the country in a phased manner.

The government would first establish a network of RNTCP accredited quality assured Intermediate Reference Laboratories providing sputum culture and rug sensitivity testing services.

Concurrently, a network of DOTS Plus sites, as per international guidelines, capable of enrolling and providing care and management of MDR-TB cases would be established. A total of 24 DOTS Plus sites are being planned across the country over the next five years capable of treating at least 5000 new MDR-TB patients every year.

The first DOTS Plus sites would be established in Gujarat and Maharashtra where work to accredit laboratories is under way and these sites would be ready to enroll patients during the first quarter of next year following which 11 more states would have these sites by end of 2007. By 2008, the entire country would have been covered to provide testing and treatment, which costs about Rs one lakh per person, free of cost to the patients referred to these sites.

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