Question : RESEARCH PROGRAMMES TO CONTROL TB

(a) whether as per the World Health Organisation (WHO), India registered two million tuberculosis cases in 2007;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor including the reaction of the Government thereto;

(c) the details of research programmes undertaken for controlling the tuberculosis in the country;

(d) the number of places where the global project on anti-tuberculosis drug resistant surveillance have been launched in the country and its impact on treatment of patients;

(e) whether the Government has made any review to eradicate tuberculosis in the country;

(f) if so, the outcome of the review; and

(g) the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI GHULAM NABI AZAD)

(a) No. As per the World Health Organisation (WHO) -Global TB report 2009, India has registered approximately 1.4 million TB cases in the year 2007.

(b) Does not arise.

(c) & (d) To control the Tuberculosis in the country various research studies particularly relating to the prevalence, incidence and drug resistant have been/are being undertaken under Revised National Control Programme (RNTCP). Some of them are:

1. Disease prevalence Studies conducted by premier institutes including TB Research Centre, Chennai and National TB Institute, Bangalore in their study areas suggest an annual decline in prevalence by around 9-11%. As per the WHO Global Report 2009 the prevalence of TB has decreased from 586 per lakh population in 1990 to 283 per lakh population in 2007. To further assess the impact of the programme, disease prevalence studies have been initiated at 7 sentinel sites across the country.

2. To estimate the annual risk of TB infection (ARTI) survey was conducted in the year 2001-03 which showed an ARTI of 1.5 as against 1.7 earlier and now a repeat survey is presently being undertaken by National TB Institute, Bangalore in collaboration with Lala Ram Swarup Institute (LRSI), New Delhi; Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore; New Delhi TB Centre and Mahatama Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS), Wardha.

3. To know the prevalence of drug resistance amongst new cases and re-treatment cases, state wide community based surveys have been carried out in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra by Tuberculosis Research Centre (WHO Supranational Reference Laboratory) and National Tuberculosis Institute, Bangalore (National Reference laboratory) respectively. These surveys estimate the prevalence of Multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) to be ~3% in new cases and 14-17% in retreatment cases. Three more such surveys are underway in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa

(e) No Sir. At present, there is no plan to eradicate tuberculosis. The present strategy is to control tuberculosis and Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme based on WHO recommended DOTS strategy with an objective of detecting 70% of new sputum positive cases and achieving a cure rate of 85% in such cases is being implemented in the entire country.

(f) & (g) Does not arise.