Daily Drug Regimen for treatment of Tuberculosis introduced

NewsBharati 17-Nov-2017

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New Delhi, November 17: Under the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), the daily regimen for TB patients across the country has been launched by the Health Ministry. The thrice-weekly regimen for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) was provided by the Health Ministry but it has now decided to change the treatment strategy for TB patients from thrice weekly to daily drug regimen using fixed-dose combinations (FDC) for treatment.

From the private pharmacy or at private practitioners the daily FDC anti-TB drugs will be distributed to TB patients who pursue care in private sector, depending upon the suitability of patient and practitioner free of cost. To expand the access to daily FDC to all TB patients, the Health Ministry will take this forward with all major hospitals, IMA, IAP and other professional medical associations.

Every year 4.2 lakh deaths reported due to TB. This change will bring transformation in the approach and the intensity to deal with this ailment. The treatment strategy is to use Ethambutol in continuation phase, drugs to be given daily (previously three times weekly), fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablets to be used which will reduce pill burden (as against 7 tablets).

According to the WHO Global TB Report, 2017 incidence of TB has reduced from 28.2 lakh to 27 lakh and death by 60 thousand over the last one year, which is a witness of anti TB drive by Government of India.

RNTCP TB FDC fixed dose combination WHO Tuberculosis