The World Tuberculosis Day is observed every
year on March 24. This special day emphasizes on unearthing solutions to
eradicate the disease. The importance of the day is to alter the gear and
expedite efforts to end TB once and for all. Keeping this objective in mind,
the Indian Government launched a new USFDA approved Bedaquline drug which
treats multi-drug resistant tuberculosis on March 21 2016. This groundbreaking
initiative is taken by the government with the help of US based healthcare firm
Johnson & Johnson (J&J). Bedaquline is developed by the pharma arm of J&J,
i.e. Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bedaquline
has an unusual mechanism of action for the treatment of tuberculosis. The organisation
has also issued instructions on how to use Bedaquline correctly.
The Indian Health Ministry said that in the
beginning, Bedaquline will be introduced in 104 districts in five
states of India for the treatment of new drug resistant TB patients. The
ministry also said that it will add 500 Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid
Amplification (CNBAAT) test machines which detect TB in just two hours. At
present, there are only 21 CNBAAT test machines operating in the country.
According to TB-India Report, 2015 by the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, India has shocking number of Tuberculosis patients
and 25 percent of all TB cases worldwide are reported in the country. The
report also showed that out of 9 million global TB cases, 2.1 million were
estimated to have occurred in India.
Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP),
which is a social media and radio campaign run by the Indian Health Ministry,
in the past years, has resulted in reducing TB cases and decreased mortality
due to the disease.
India is a core member of the World Health
Assembly, which started the “End TB strategy” under the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG). This innovative strategy vows to reduce TB cases by 50 percent and
deaths due to TB by 75 percent by 2025.
Meanwhile, on the account of World Tuberculosis
Day, The Delhi Government announced three new schemes including one for
providing livelihood to wives of poor patients who died due to tuberculosis. The
schemes include opening of TB control services for homeless population and Directly
Observed Treatment (DOT) Centres for Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) TB patients.
In the last few years, the Indian Government is
doing every bit to eliminate tuberculosis just like it has eliminated Polio.
The launch of Bedaquline drug is surely going to fuel the government’s
objective in coming years.
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