'India may miss TB
eradication target'
India may not be
able to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025 as targeted by the government. Cases of drug
resistant TB are expected to rise in four high burden countries of India, the
Philippines, Russia, and South Africa between 2000 and 2040, a Lancet study shows.
The upturn is likely to be due to increased spread of TB from person to person rather than by strains acquiring resistance to anti TB drugs, which has been so far considered the main hurdle in eradicating TB.
"While better
access to treatment programmes will reduce rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis
in countries with a high burden, they will not eradicate the problem alone, and
current efforts may not be enough to reverse the epidemic," the report
said.
The study estimates
that 12.4% of tuberculosis cases in India will be multi-drug resistant by 2040,
as compared to 7.9% in 2000. In addition, almost one in ten cases of
multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) or 8.9% are expected to be
extensively drug-resistant by 2040, as against 0.9% in 2000.
TB is a bacterial disease that can be treated with a combination of antibiotic drugs. However, because of misuse of antibiotics, bacteria can develop drug resistanceand destroys the efficacy of the medicine. India is under international pressure to tackle the TB problem, as it accounts for 4,80,000 deaths every year and over 1400 deaths daily.
11.05.2017
Trust
is always earned,
never given
R. Williams
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