The first national anti-tuberculosis drug resistance survey, India 2014 – 2015 was launched by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare on 6 September 2014 in New Delhi. This first of its kind survey in India is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The survey will provide a statistically representative national estimate of the prevalence of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance among new and previously treated patients in India, and will contribute to a more accurate estimate of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance globally.
Speaking at the launch, the Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, said that TB is a “national emergency” and called for an email repository of doctors for better disease management.
“Building up an email repository would especially help in the national fight against TB, a notifiable disease. It would facilitate instant transmission of news to all health authorities, public health and healthcare providers, public health laboratories and healthcare professionals,” the minister said.
Dr Harsh Vardhan also exhorted TB experts to come up with strategies to address TB in india on a war footing.
Congratulating the government on the new initiative, Dr Nata Menabde, WHO Representative to India highlighted that to effectively address the growing challenge of drug resistant TB it is important to understand its epidemiology and collect sufficient knowledge on its prevalence in the country.
“In order for India to plan, strategize and refine the quality of services for drug resistant TB, it is crucial to have reliable data on the rates of drug resistance at the national level,” she elaborated.
“I believe that this survey will be path-breaking as it will provide a unique data set for both national and global level information on drug resistant TB and its management. It will strengthen our ability and preparedness to fight this deadly disease, which continues to devastate families and communities,” Dr Menabde added.
Other dignitaries who spoke at the launch included Mr Lov Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare(MoHFW); Dr C.K. Misra, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, MoHFW; Dr Jagdish Prasad, Director General Health Services, MoHFW; Mr Anshu Prakash, Joint Secretary, MoHFW and senior officials of the Central TB Division, Government of India.
The survey is unique for a number of reasons: the largest in terms of number of patients to be enrolled – 5214, covering 120 TB units in 24 states; 13 drugs, including all first and most of second line anti-TB drugs to be tested;use of liquid culture for culture and drug sensitivity tests;genetic sequencing for better understanding of molecular epidemiology of drug resistance, and use of real time monitoring of survey activities using a web-based ICT system, which has been developed by National Tuberculosis Institute, Bangalore.
To be completed in one year, the survey will provide: a much better estimate of anti-TB drug resistance in the country; information on the various patterns of drug resistance, which can help in designing better treatment regimen, and information on commonly encountered genetic mutations that can help in development of indigenous rapid molecular diagnostic tests.
The launch was attended by representatives of various ministries, government science and technology institutions, nongovernmental organizations and other national and international experts in this area.