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Drug-resistant TB now a major threat to globe

Attempts to stem the alarming spread of tuberculosis across the globe are unlikely to succeed unless authorities in affected regions significantly increase their efforts to stop the deadly disease, warns the WHO's latest global tuberculosis control report.

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Wrongly considered by many as an illness of the past, TB is making a comeback worldwide and kills, on an average, one person every 20 seconds. Attempts to stem the alarming spread of tuberculosis across the globe are unlikely to succeed unless authorities in affected regions significantly increase their efforts to stop the deadly disease, warns the World Health Organization's latest global tuberculosis control report.

The theme for March 24 - World TB Day; launched in 1982 by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease -- is 'Innovate to accelerate action', and the slogan is 'I am stopping TB'.
However, a major challenge that has cropped up in the fight is the prevalence of multi-drugs resistant tuberculosis or MDR-TB, a type of tuberculosis, and extremely drug resistant or XDR-TB; those that cannot be treated using commonly used drugs.

Dr Narendra Raval, president, Gujarat Chest Physicians Association, said,  "Patients suffering from these type do not respond to the first six month's of treatment using first line anti-tuberculosis drugs including Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamide, Streptomycin, and Ethambutol." Raval confirmed that the cases of these types are increasing every month in the state.

Pulmonologist, Dr. Parthiv Mehta said, "Cases of drug resistant TB are increasing in Gujarat and India as well. Overall, 12% of total cases are likely to be of multi drug resistant TB." Building up immunity is only method to prevent TB infections.

The more alarming fact is that, according to the new WHO's Multidrug and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: 2010 Global Report on Surveillance and Response, it is estimated that 440,000 people had MDR-TB worldwide in 2008 and almost 50% of these cases are from China and India.

With a failed attempt from 1968 to 1993 with the National TB Control (NTBC) Programme, India had switched over to the Revised National TB Control (RNTBC) Programme in 1994. And medical experts say that such a change caused many to leave their treatments half way - which is the major factor behind for the development of the fatal versions of TB. 

After two months of taking the drugs, patients stop experiencing tuberculosis symptoms such as weight loss and coughing, and leave the medication before completion of a minimum of a six to nine-month course, prescribed under the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) designed to treat TB  by the RNTCP.

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