1.5 lakh people suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis

With 1.5 lakh people suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, the health ministry has asked the Medical Council of India to make it mandatory for teaching colleges to treat these patients.

A separate centre will have to be set up in teaching colleges to treat patients with tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant TB. This centre will be one of the criteria for recognition of medical colleges. The step is being taken because of the increasing number of tuberculosis and MDR-TB. To ensure that they are effectively tackled, medical colleges are going to be involved so that the number of patients can be controlled.

Dr B.S. Raju, assistant professor in a government college, explained, “Data shows that there are 27.9 lakh tuberculosis cases in India. On an average there are 211 new infections diagnosed per 1 lakh people. The disease burden is huge. Apart from TB hospitals, it requires getting other government hospitals involved to treat these patients..”

There are 147 multi-drug resistant tuberculosis treatment centres across the country but they are not sufficient to treat the patients. These new steps are being taken as the Centre has set a target to eradicate tuberculosis by 2025.