By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Though, tuberculosis is a curable disease yet it still affects a large number of the population and it is found that people are still dying from a curable disease like TB which is a shame in this day and age, said State TB officer of Meghalaya Dr J V Shullai.
“TB is an airborne disease and can kill if not treated”, Dr Shullai said while stating that everyday 4000 people lose their lives to TB. “This disease should not be tolerated and we should pledge ourselves with the global theme of this year’s World TB Day– to ensure zero deaths from TB in my lifetime”, she added.
Addressing the gathering on the eve of World TB Day at Don Bosco Youth Centre here on Saturday, Dr Shullai highlighted the status of Meghalaya pointing out that in the past year the state has been able to achieve the benchmark as set by the central TB division with 70 percent case detection and 85 percent cure rate.
As per the records of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), in 2012, almost 25,000 TB suspects were tested in 7 District Tuberculosis Centres (DTCs), 13 Tuberculosis Units (TUs), 57 Designated Microscopy Centres (DMCs) and 1641 DOT centres. Out of these, 5112 patients were found to be suffering from TB out of which 2154 patients have been declared cured and completed treatment while the others are still in various stages of treatment.
“Despite achieving a national benchmark, the RNTCP has set benchmarks for itself of achieving 90 percent cure rate in 2013 in line with the universal access to TB care and control standards”, Dr Shullai informed.
She further mentioned that in order to tackle this menace, the programme has initiated DOTS plus sites or drug resistant TB centres at Shillong and Tura for faster care of those patients suspected of having Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MRD-TB).
In the year 2012-13, the whole state was covered under the programme management of Drug resistant TB (PMDT) wherein 250 suspects were tested for MRD-TB out of which 110 patients were found to be suffering from MDR-TB and were put on treatment.
“In order to speed up the diagnosis of MDRTB suspects, the programme has recently accredited the lab at Nazareth hospital for culture and drug sensitivity testing lab using LPA method for testing of MDR-TB suspects”, she added.
Touching on the people living with HIV/AIDS, Dr Shullai said TB is a major co-infection and the leading cause of death, responsible for killing approximately 350,000 HIV-infected individuals in 2010.
“In Meghalaya, the intensified TB-HIV package was launched in 2010. There has been cross linkages between the two programmes where patients suffering from HIV are screened for TB and vice versa through the network of ICTC’s (NACP) and DMC’s (RNTCP)”, she mentioned.
Meanwhile, addressing the gathering as the chief guest, Health Minister AL Hek said “We are here with a responsibility and we are trying to achieve the theme goal with the collective efforts of everyone.”
On the same note, Archbishop of Shillong Diocese, Most Rev Dominic Jala said “We are committed as a church in getting involved in fighting this disease to bring about a healthy society.”
Meanwhile, N Nongkhlaw, who is TB patient while giving his testimony urged the TB patients to come forward and get themselves tested before its too late. Nongkhlaw, who is a student of MSC Botany at NEHU, expressed his desire to continue with his studies once his treatment is completed.
The others who were present at the occasion included Secretary in charge of Health MR Synrem, District TB officer of East Khasi Hills Dr J Lyngwa, head of Nazareth hospital, CMO of Woodland hospital, medical experts, doctors and students from various colleges.
