New Delhi, Sept 26: India has achieved remarkable progress in implementation of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme even as the stigma attached to the disease and discrimination prevailed in some areas, an expert said here today. "We are satisfied with the progress made so far to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis. At the same time we have identified some areas where efforts are needed to reduce the incidence of TB," Coordinator, TB Strategy And Operations at WHO (Geneva), Dr Leopold Blanc told reporters. Blanc was member of a 40-person joint review mission which reviewed India`s Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) and travelled 20 districts in five states. The team reviewed the records of about 1000 patients. The team covered five states, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Orissa to review the ongoing TB control programme. Conditions in Orissa and Rajasthan are improving fast, Blanc said. Though the programme was working well in reducing TB burden, more workers were needed at the ground level in some areas. There were areas with dense population and the number of trained staff provided was not in proportion, he said.
Out of nine sites the team reviewed for drug resistance, about three per cent people were reported to have drug resistance from seven sites, Deputy Director General TB at the Ministry of Health, Dr L S Chauhan said.
"Clearly there was lack of information about the disease especially in rural areas but the condition was no better in slums as well," he said.
Bureau Report