The Hindu : Steps to prevent tuberculosis

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Steps to prevent tuberculosis

By Our Staff Correspondent

UDUPI FEB. 18 . The District TB Control Officer, Ramachandra Bairy, said on Tuesday that efforts were being made to prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in Udupi District.

He told presspersons here that the Department of Health and Family Welfare had taken steps to propagate the fact that tuberculosis was curable.

It was observing the TB Control Week from February 17 to 23. He said 1.4 crore people in the country were afflicted by tuberculosis. He said that nearly 22 lakh persons were getting the disease every year, and one person was dying every minute due to tuberculosis. He said the government doctors, along with the Udupi unit of IMA, were creating awareness about the disease.

Dr. Bairy said the scenario of tuberculosis in the district was complicated due to the presence of HIV. As many as 60 per cent of HIV patients were affected by tuberculosis. Since Udupi was in the "red list" as far as HIV was concerned, the incidence of tuberculosis was also high.

As many as 1,293 cases of tuberculosis were reported in the government hospitals in the district in 2001. This went up to 1,326 in 2002. He said 72 patients had HIV with tuberculosis. Most of the times there was relapse of the disease as patients did not take the full dose of medicines prescribed. This led to the disease developing resistance to the drugs and other complications.

To prevent this, the Government was laying emphasis on Direct Observed Treatment Short-term Chemotherapy (DOTS) course, where the dosage was given on alternate days by the assistant health workers. The department had taken the help of voluntary organisations and anganwadi workers to disseminate information on tuberculosis.

Stating that 2,700 cases of malaria were reported in the district in 2002, he said nine deaths were reported due to malaria in 2002, six deaths in 2001. High incidence of malaria had been reported in Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) limits and 21 PHCs in the district. These PHCs are Malpe, Moodabettu, Pernankila, Kukkihalli, Hiriyadka, Saibrakatte, Mudrangady, Hirebettu, Shirva and Manipura in Udupi taluk; Palli, Hirgana, Nitte, Bailoor, Irvathur, Sacheripete, Belman, and Donderangady in Karkala taluk; and Halady, Bidkalkatte and Kedoor in Kundapur taluk. Malaria was under control in the district, Dr. Bairy said.

The District Leprosy Control Officer, K.K. Kalkura, said 256 leprosy patients had been identified in the district. Of them, 216 had been treated. High incidence of leprosy had been reported from Gangolli village in the district.

Stating that leprosy was a curable disease, he said there were 2.5 patients for every 10,000 persons in the district. The target of the District Health Department was to have less than one patient for every 10,000 persons, he said. The District Health Officer, A.N. Chandramouli, and the Divisional TB Coordinator, K.S. Karanth, were present.

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