Context:
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports over 10 million new cases of TB every year and India alone accounts for 27% of the global TB burden.
About Tuberculosis:
- Caused by – Bacterium
- It most often affects lungs (Pulmonary TB) but can affect other sites.
- Medications – Isoniazid, Rifampin, Ethambutol, Pyrazinamide, Bedaquiline etc.
- Licensed vaccine – Bacillle Calmette-Guerin (BCG) [prevents extra-pulmonary TB but not pulmonary TB]
- Other vaccines under trial in India – VPM (Vaccine Projekt Management) 1002 and MIP (Mycobacterium Indicus Pranii)
- Diagnosis – Rapid molecular diagnostic tests, Sputum smear microscopy and Chest X-rays.
- Symptoms – Prolonged cough, chest pain, weakness/fatigue, weight loss, fever, etc.
- Transmission – Person to person through air.
Extra Pulmonary TB (EPTB):
- Extra Pulmonary TB – Tuberculosis outside of the lungs.
- Includes tuberculosis meningitis, abdominal tuberculosis (usually with ascites), skeletal tuberculosis, Pott’s disease (spine), scrofula (lymphadenitis), and genitourinary (renal) tuberculosis.
- Often stain negative (not detectable on regular TB stain tests)
In 2014, a group of experts from different health institutions across the country, the WHO, and the Cochrane Infectious Disease Group came together to formulate INDEX-TB, a set of guidelines for EPTB management in India.
Drug-Resistant TB:
- Multidrug Resistance TB (MDR): Resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin.
- Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDRTB): Resistant to isoniazid and rifampin, plus any fluoroquinolone and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (i.e., amikacin, kanamycin, or capreomycin).
- Totally drug-resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB): Resistant to all first- and second-line TB drugs.
Steps taken to eliminate Tuberculosis
India’s efforts:
- National Strategic Plan (NSP), 2017-2025: To eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the SDG 2030 target.
- National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP): Earlier, it was known as Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP).
- NIKSHAY Portal: National TB information system to manage patient information and monitor program activity throughout the country.
- NIKSHAY Poshan Yojana: Provides DBT to all TB patients towards nutritional support.
- Initiated by – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Funding – Government of India with World Bank.
- TB Free India Campaign launched by Prime Minister to eliminate TB by 2025.
- ‘PathoDetect™ kit’, by Pune based Mylab: India’s 1st indigenous TB Detection kit – Single test can detect tuberculosis and MDR TB.
Global efforts:
- Moscow Declaration, 2017: To increase multisectoral action and enhance accountability towards ending TB by 2030.
- WHO End TB Strategy: To reduce TB incidence by 80%, TB deaths by 90%, and to eliminate catastrophic costs for TB-affected households by 2030.
- Find. Treat. All. #EndTB: It is the joint Initiative of WHO, Stop TB Partnership, and Global Fund to diagnose treat and report 40 million people with TB.
What is BPaL?
- BPaL (Short anti-TB regimen) has shown favourable outcomes in TB patients.
- A 6-month, all-oral, 3-drug regimen that is used to treat people with highly drug resistant forms of TB.
- Combination of 3 newer antibiotics – bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid.
- TB Alliance’s BPaL regimen to reduce TB treatment time from 18 months to 6 months.
- TB Alliance is not-for-profit organization.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
Which one of the following statements best describes the role of B cells and T cells in the human body?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2022 Prelims]
(a) They protect the body from environmental allergens.
(b) They alleviate the body’s pain and inflammation.
(c) They act as immunosuppressants in the body.
(d) They protect the body from the diseases caused by pathogens.
Answer: (d)
