Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh has taken a lead in the entire North-East with the launching of first-of-its-kind DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment) plus services, meant for the treatment of Multi Drugs Resistance (MDR) TB patients, officials said.
The service was launched at DOTS Plus Site at Arunachal State Hospital, Naharlagun yesterday. The programme was inaugurated by Dr K Nishing, director of Health Services, who administered the medicine to two MDR patients, who were admitted in the newly-constructed DOTS Plus ward of the hospital.
This service will be introduced in Assam, Manipur and Sikkim later on, sources said. With this the MDR (TB) patients will be benefited with free DOTS Plus medicine for 24-27 months along with free pre-treatment investigation.
Following the launching of the services in the state, all the MDR (TB) patients after confirmation by the DTOs can be referred to this centre for initiation of treatment.
Further, for sputum culture and drug sensitivity testing for TB diseases, the Intermediate Reference Laboratory (IRL) is also coming up at state TB & Demonstration Centre, Naharlagun for the convenience of TB patients, sources added.
PTI