Tuberculosis: a snap shot picture
Anil, P.
Health for the Millions 21(1): 8-9
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0970-8685 PMID: 12288997 Document Number: 289840
In India almost 40% of the population is infected with tuberculosis (TB); 0.4% are sputum-positive infectious cases, 2-2.5 million new cases occur annually, and mortality amounts to 50/100,000 population. The National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) and its District TB Program (DTP) aim to detect all TB cases and treat them effectively as part of the general health services, to vaccinate most children with bacillus Calmette-Guerin, to manage planning and implementation, and to carry out proper recording and reporting of cases. Health education is also carried out in order to enlighten the community, patients, children, students, and medical personnel on various aspects of TB using booklets, pamphlets, TV, and newspaper advertisements. Among resources rendering anti-TB services are 390 district TB centers, 17,850 rural health centers, 330 other clinics, and 17 TB demonstration and training centers; there are approximately 47,000 beds available. International assistance has been obtained from the Swedish International Development Agency, who has supplied X-ray units, anti-TB drugs, and vehicles, since 1979. The World Health Organization (WHO) has assisted by providing consultants, fellowships, and equipment for the National TB Institute in Bangalore and the TB Research Center in Madras. These are also helped by WHO to conduct short courses and training courses for health administrators and college teachers. Some of the problems the NTP faces include: completion of implementation of the DTP in 80 districts and in 25% of peripheral health institutions; nonavailability of trained personnel and vehicles in DTP clinics; overburdened laboratory technicians in 25-30% of primary health care; lack of adequate quantities of drugs, material, and equipment for TB treatment; and lack or shortage of beds. The trends of TB demonstrate that cases tend to concentrate in higher age groups; prevalence in younger people and in newborn children is low and on the decline; and there is a shift from the acute type to the chronic fibrotic type.