Doctors and pharmacists failing to notify a tuberculosis patient to government authorities will invite prosecution and may face jail. The Centre announced the stiff measure through a notification ahead of the World Tuberculosis Day on March 24.
TB was declared a notifiable disease in 2012, but misreported cases never led to any prosecution until now. The move comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would get rid of the disease by 2025.
A notifiable disease is the one that has to be reported to the authorities so that speedy action can be taken to check its spread.
India reported 4,23,000 TB deaths in 2017 and an average of 211 new infections per 1,00,000 people were diagnosed. Currently, there are over 2.8 million cases in India, making it the TB capital of the world, as per a report by the World Health Organisations.
“To ensure proper tuberculosis diagnosis and its management in patients and to further address the problem of emergence and spread of drug-resistance Tuberculosis, it is essential to collect all the information of the tuberculosis patients,” stated the notification.
The government has now asked every clinical establishment to notify the local public health authority, which will be the district health officer or the chief medical officer of a district and municipal health officer of urban local bodies or the designated district tuberculosis officers.
Also, all pharmacy, chemist and druggist dispensing anti-tubercular medicine will have to keep a copy of the prescription.
Under the Gazette, all tuberculosis patients have also been encouraged to self-notify themselves with their details and those of the treating doctors. This would ensure complete and appropriate treatment of all TB patients.
DRASTIC STEPS
- Doctors to face jail term for not reporting TB cases
- All pharmacy, chemist and druggist dispensing anti-TB medicine must keep a copy of prescription
DIRE STATE
- 4,23,000 TB deaths in India in 2017
- 211 average new infections per 1 lakh population
- 2.8 million TB cases in India, highest in the world
NOTIFIABLE DISEASE?
- A disease that has to be reported to the authorities so that speedy action can be taken to check its spread
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