Taking the war against Tuberculosis (TB) ahead, state-level stakeholders of the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) have decided to sensitise people on newer initiatives under TB control in the state.
The core objective of the programme is to identify priority areas of collaboration with various individuals working in the field and contributing partners to emphasise special focus on research.
Officials confirmed that Mumbai had responded well to the challenge of MDR-TB in past half-a-decade, proving the success of the national RNTCP programme. At the same time, public-private partnership in sensitisation and awareness as well as disease management sectors had played an influential role in expanding the programme’s reach.
Talking about updating the programme, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general, ICMR, and secretary Health Research, government of India, said early diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing guided treatment was key to accelerating the gains of RNTCP and ensure improved treatment outcomes. At the same time, she requested officials from the Centre for programmatic flexibility of states to implement the RNTCP according to their state’s context and needs.
“Paediatric TB and extra pulmonary TB need greater focus. For this, household screening needs a strong push. Prophylactic treatment for contacts of TB cases and extra pulmonary TB is increasingly necessary and is being considered,” Dr Swaminathan said.
As the state is already conducting shorter regimens of trials for MDR TB patients currently, soon, clinical trials to test recombinant BCG vaccine are to be conducted. If successful, it will replace the existing BCG vaccine.
“A TB research consortium is being set up this year to address high priority TB research questions. Discussions are underway to establish a TB lab at Haffkine institute. However, we need bolder targets and should aim to accelerate the reduction in TB incidence,” Dr Swaminathan said.
