Challenge:
Tuberculosis was the most deadly communicable disease for 15-45 year olds in India accounting for 400,000 deaths a year and costing upwards of three billion dollar annually to the Indian economy.
Example of Impact:
The National Tuberculosis control project has ensured that more than 10,000 symptomatic patients are examined with over 2,500 of those placed on immediate treatment saving 500 lives each day.
Approach:
• Improving the quality, access, and outcomes of TB treatment through developing institutional, operational, and research capacity and enhancing technical, managerial, and interpersonal skills.
• Focusing on the individual by curing patients and on the community by interrupting the transmission of the disease.
• Participation by over 550 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and more than 2,000 private practitioners.
Challenges Remaining:
Increasing prevalence of HIV infection, which makes people more susceptible to TB, and drug resistant types of TB mean the disease will pose increasingly serious public health hazard with a high economic burden for India for several decades to come.
RSS