Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
There are 1860 active cases of tuberculosis in the state till May 2022, informed State Tuberculosis Cell (STC), on June 23. AJ Rynjah, assistant programme officer of the STC informed that the data is according to NIKSHAY portal, a web enabled patient management system for TB control under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP).
“Tuberculosis is curable provided people take proper care and medication,” said state TB officer M Mawrie, while speaking at an event titled “TB Free Meghalaya: An update”, at the conference hall of the Presbyterian Church of India.
Mawrie also added that medicines are given for free under Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (DOTS).
Saying that the state missed the focus on TB due to the pandemic, though treatment of the patients continued, he said, there is a need for coordination between the health department and other allied departments such as the Social Welfare Department.
Mawrie also said that all diagnoses should be registered on the NIKSHAY portal, and encouraged private clinics and private hospitals to do so.
NIKSHAY (Ni=End, Kshay=TB) is developed and maintained by the Central TB Division (CTD), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, government of India, in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), and the World Health Organization country office for India.
He further said that under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), nutritional support of Rs 500 per month is provided to every TB patient during the course of treatment and it is sent directly to their bank accounts.
A one-time payment of Rs 750 is also provided to tribal patients as travel allowance.
However, Mawrie said that most patients are apprehensive of disclosing their bank account number.