(From left) Nalini Krishnan, director, REACH; Darez Ahamed, director, National Rural Health Mission; J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary; and P.R. Narayanan, former director, Tuberclulosis Research Centre, at the REACH dissemination meeting held in Chennai. | Photo Credit: S.R. Raghunathan more-in Tuberculosis is a curable communicable disease, but the State continues to face a huge challenge. That there were 1,544 persons with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and 54 with extreme drug resistance is a cause for concern, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said here on Wednesday. He was addressing a gathering of pharmacists and private medical practitioners at an event organised by non-governmental organisation REACH working to eliminate TB in the city. Dr. Radhakrishnan, who lauded the efforts of the NGO, urged all pharmacists to create awareness on treatment for TB by putting up pamphlets and fliers in their shops. “TB is a curable disease. It is a hidden unacknowledged killer,” which could be turned on its head by “pharmacists who can make a remarkable change,” he said. For its part, the government was also simplifying the notification process, said National Health Mission director Darez Ahamed. Direct Benefit Transfer The Direct Benefit Transfer to TB affected families would shortly be launched at the Government Hospital in Tambaram, he said, adding that the government was not only developing an app in place of the web portal to enable easy reporting of TB cases but also improving the software for health information management system. The NHM had prioritised treatment of TB and made it an open-ended programme. “In the urban health mission we need public-private models that can be replicated,” he said. REACH launched an initiative in 2012 to engage private practitioners and pharmacists in the city in treating TB. The result was that a third of patients referred by city’s pharmacists to doctors had been diagnosed positive for tuberculosis. Some pharmacists went further and ensured that the patients stuck to the drug regimen and were cured. The pharmacists found that patients looked for a one-stop place for diagnosis and treatment. The other initiative – EQUIP – a two-year programme which engaged private practitioners, found that an interface agency was required to encourage private practitioners to join hands with the government. District TB officer J. Lavanya said in 2016 the city reported 23,000 TB cases but every year the same number of cases came in, showing that all aspects of the disease were not taken care of. Though TB notification was mandatory there was lacuna in reporting. Thanks to the initiative, a population of 72 lakh was covered in 2017 as against 48 lakh persons in 2013, she said. However, the challenge of monitoring adherence to treatment remained, she said. REACH director Nalini Krishnan said the project was just a model and must be scaled up. To reach more patients it was imperative to have a patient-first approach and it was vital to find solutions for different groups.

Stay updated with all the Chennai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.