Health
TB-Free India:Vision And
Action
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By Govind Misra
As we all know Tuberculosis is an infectious disease which is caused by bacteria. It primarily
affects lungs. It spreads through air when a person coughs or sneezes or spits. The disease is
curable. However, without treatment, TB can be fatal.
WHO data reveals that India has done impressive developments to eradicate this deadly disease.
Since 2015 we have put in all our efforts into getting positive results. We have seen a 17 percent
fall in the cases reported so far and 20 percent fall in the death rate. So our journey towards
wiping out this disease has been satisfactory as significant progress has been made in its
detection as well as treatment. Despite this India is having 25 percent of the total TB patients in
the world. Moreover 30 percent of deaths due to TB in the world take place in our country. The
situation is really alarming. Thus WHO has categorically mentioned although the pace of our
efforts has been marvelous, yet our elimination program is having some shortcomings which we
must remove.
Henceforth, robust steps are required to get rid of this fatal disease. As we are lagging mainly in
the diagnostic front, the government wants to introduce technology, including AI for the
purpose of detecting TB. In fact, WHO has also said that diagnosis of TB is a major roadblock in
order to finish off this disease. Traditionally we are using the Sputum test for the diagnosis. But
this test has certain limitations as it does not give accurate results in case of children and the
persons who have HIV problems. Secondly this Sputum test fails if the person has “
Antimicrobial Resistance”. In short it is called AMR. Since we are having less facilities and
shortage of trained professionals, especially in rural areas, the use of AI for diagnostic purposes
TB-Free India:Vision And
Action
___
By Govind Misra
As we all know Tuberculosis is an infectious disease which is caused by bacteria. It primarily
affects lungs. It spreads through air when a person coughs or sneezes or spits. The disease is
curable. However, without treatment, TB can be fatal.
WHO data reveals that India has done impressive developments to eradicate this deadly disease.
Since 2015 we have put in all our efforts into getting positive results. We have seen a 17 percent
fall in the cases reported so far and 20 percent fall in the death rate. So our journey towards
wiping out this disease has been satisfactory as significant progress has been made in its
detection as well as treatment. Despite this India is having 25 percent of the total TB patients in
the world. Moreover 30 percent of deaths due to TB in the world take place in our country. The
situation is really alarming. Thus WHO has categorically mentioned although the pace of our
efforts has been marvelous, yet our elimination program is having some shortcomings which we
must remove.
Henceforth, robust steps are required to get rid of this fatal disease. As we are lagging mainly in
the diagnostic front, the government wants to introduce technology, including AI for the
purpose of detecting TB. In fact, WHO has also said that diagnosis of TB is a major roadblock in
order to finish off this disease. Traditionally we are using the Sputum test for the diagnosis. But
this test has certain limitations as it does not give accurate results in case of children and the
persons who have HIV problems. Secondly this Sputum test fails if the person has “
Antimicrobial Resistance”. In short it is called AMR. Since we are having less facilities and
shortage of trained professionals, especially in rural areas, the use of AI for diagnostic purposes
