Need Collaborative Approach To Manage Drug Resistance TB

The need of the hour is a more streamlined and aggressive approach to access the government CAP and DOTS offering to end TB epidemic by 2030.Dr Vikas Oswal, Chest Consultant, Mumbai, Chairperson, DRTB Site, Shatabdi Municipal Hospital National Trainer, reveals more

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INDIA NEEDS an urgent collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach in order to accelerate progress towards the goal of ending the tuberculosis epidemic as per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline of 2030. In 2018, at the launch of the TB Free India Campaign at ‘Delhi End TB Summit’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government is implementing a national strategic plan (NSP) to end TB by 2025 and ensure that every TB patient has access to quality diagnosis, treatment, and support. The recent years have seen a leap in medical advancements in the challenging area of drug-resistant TB. It is now a matter of joining hands and putting together a concerted effort to ensure improved monitoring and diagnosis, access to treatment options, education, awareness around prevention, and adherence to end the perils of drug resistance.

Tuberculosis continues to be one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide and the leading infectious killer disease. Central to the problem is the fact that Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative bacteria can mutate and develop resistance to the anti-microbial drugs used to cure the disease (referred to as drug-resistant TB). This bacterial resistance poses the biggest challenge to eradicate the disease as the bacteria then becomes far more virulent and warrants a more aggressive bactericidal approach.