New Delhi, March 26,
2014: Tuberculosis
(TB) is a major public health problem in India. India accounts for one-fifth of
the global TB incidences. Each year nearly 2 million people contract TB in
India. Metropolis Healthcare Ltd,
India’s leading multinational chain of diagnostic centers has partnered with
IPAQT (Initiative for promoting affordable and quality TB tests). IPAQT has
tied up with over 70 labs in India. Recently Metropolis & IPAQT had
organized CME (Continuous Medical Education) on the topic New Approaches & Developments
for doctors; the main objective of this initiative was not only to educate the
doctors, but also to trickle down the information among the masses, so that
common man can be benefitted. In the event there were eminent speakers present,
sharing their valuable thought viz; Dr. Madhukar Pai, Associate Professor –
Department of Epidemiology, McGill University, Dr. K.S. Sachdeva, ADDG Central
TB Division.
Recently
multidrug resistance (MDR) tuberculosis has been a major disease burden for
India. Both MDR-TB and XDR-TB are the emerging threats to the success of
anti-TB programs. The MDR-TB prevalence is estimated to be 2.3 percent among
new cases and 12-17 percent among re-treatment cases in India, making our
country the second in line after China for the largest number of tuberculosis
cases in a country.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Puneet K. Nigam
(Chief of Lab services, Metropolis Healthcare, Delhi), said that this is a very
good initiative to attack the TB pandemic in areas which have been a major
concern for years. Early diagnosis of the disease will help to treat the
patients faster. It is imperative that doctors should recommend for microbial
testing & drug susceptibility testing in suspected cases of TB.
The
high costs of tests, indiscriminate & irrational use of drugs and lack of
follow-up of all identified cases is contributing to the rise of the disease,
hence Metropolis Healthcare has tied up with Revised Tuberculosis Control
Programme (RNTCP) conducted by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for
complete diagnosis of tuberculosis at affordable rate.
