GURUGRAM: The health department on Sunday announced an “adoption model” for tuberculosis (TB) patients in the districts, under which it will engage private companies to detect and treat patients at the grassroots level. A meeting was held between officials of the health department and representatives of around 50 firms.
The initiative, officials said, would need the companies to create awareness among people in the villages, counsel and treat them and follow up on their health condition. “We have reached out to corporate firms to support TB patients. These companies can adopt a village in Gurugram and provide manpower, equipment and dietary supplements to TB patients. They can also spread awareness about the disease,” said Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer.
The move, officials said, is crucial because TB patients are more vulnerable to contracting Covid and it is important to detect the infection at an early stage. According to the health department’s data, a total of 608 patients have been diagnosed with TB this year. In 2021, as many as 6,425 patients had TB while the number was 6,252 in 2020 and 7,015 the previous year.
At present, Gurugram has two CBNAAT and one TrueNAAT machines at the Civil Hospital and Sohna Hospital for diagnosis of TB.
Under the Haryana government’s Nikshay Poshan Yojna, TB patients are given Rs 500 every month till they complete treatment. The government aims at eliminating TB by 2025.
Doctors in private hospitals, however, said they were witnessing a rise in TB patients, many of whom had contracted Covid too. “Now that Covid cases have come down, we are able to diagnose a greater number of TB patients. A number of Covid patients were administered steroids, which can lead to precipitation of hidden diverse TB. Basically, patients are now more aware about lung diseases than before. At out centre, there is a 10-15% increase in patients,” said Dr Piyush Goel, consultant (pulmonology, intensive care) at Columbia Asia Hospital.