A groundbreaking shorter treatment regimen is set to be launched early next year under the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP), reducing the treatment duration from 9-12 months to just 6 months. Incidentally, India has set the target 2025 as the TB elimination year, five years ahead of the World Health Organisation (WHO) goal.
This was shared by Union Health Minister Nadda at a press conference here recently while enlisting the achievement of the Modi-led Government in the first 100 days of its third term.
A few days ago, the Ministry approved the introduction of the BPaLM regimen consisting of four drugs — Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid and Moxifloxacin. It said that it has proven to be a safe, more effective and quicker treatment option than the previous Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment procedure.
Validated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and supported by Health Technology Assessment (HTA), this new regimen aims to benefit approximately 75,000 drug-resistant TB (DRTB) cases across the country, He said that a detailed rollout plan for logistics and training of health professionals is in development.
Also, to enhance TB and drug resistance diagnosis nationwide, a new indigenous diagnostic system called Patho Detect has been validated by the Indian Council of Medical and Research (ICMR), showcasing its field feasibility.
“This innovative tool is expected to significantly reduce turnaround times for test results, ultimately lowering morbidity and mortality rates among TB patients,” said an official from the Ministry.
