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.
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.