Tuberculosis DOTS programme runs satisfactorily in Mymensingh

FE Team | Published: July 28, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) programme to control tuberculosis has been found satisfactory in Mymensingh district, sources at the national tuberculosis leprosy control programme (NTLCP) said Friday, reports BSS.
Line Director of the NTLCP Provat Barua, who made a surprise visit to some villages in Bhaluka recently, said the innovative approach from the Damien Foundation has been working well in the TB-affected areas.
The Damien Foundation, one of leading government partners to control TB and leprosy, has been conducting anti-TB programme in 110 upazilas of the country involving 6,000 village doctors and cured TB survivors.
"Involvement of cured TB patients in the control programme is a new but proved to be a successful approach in Bangladesh and other parts of the world," Country Director of Damien Foundation Dr MA Hamid Salim told the news agency. He said they have involved six village doctors and available ex-TB patients for each union parishad in intervention areas.
Line Director Provat Barua appreciated the approach and said the universal approach of DOTS has been going well in remote villages. He said the visiting team has inquired into all the indicators of proper management of DOTS and those were found absolutely satisfactory.
DOTS is the universally accepted best programme to control TB, where a TB patient takes drugs in front of someone every day. This programme ensures compliance to TB drug and reduces development of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis cases. The MDR and XDR cause high cost for drugs and lead to death.
According to the official statistics, the detection rate of tuberculosis has risen to nearly 75 per cent and the cure rate over 90 per cent, an achievement higher than the global target.
The decade-old statistics show that at least 70,000 people die each year from TB and 300,000 become newly infected. Bangladesh now ranks fifth among the high burden 22 TB countries in the world.