Civil surgeon UP Singh (second from right) and district tuberculosis control officer Prabhakar K Bhagat (right) speak to the media in Dhanbad on Wednesday. (Gautam Dey)

Dhanbad, March 24: After achieving 87.5 per cent cure rate in treatment of tuberculosis as against the target of 85 per cent in 2009, the district administration is now gearing up to implement a new scheme to control the disease in the 2010-11 fiscal.

DOTS-Plus will come into effect from April in addition to the existing DOTS programme. The central government has chosen two districts of Jharkhand — Dhanbad and Ranchi — to introduce this programme.

Under the programme, approximately 50 patients, who remained uncured during the DOTS programme because of developing resistance to multiple drugs, will be treated in Dhanbad. Training of all district TB control officers from across the country was recently held in Hyderabad from March 8-12.

Dhanbad civil surgeon and vice-president of District TB Control Committee U.P. Singh said: “We will soon organise an intensive training for the officials and staff, including the medical officer in charge and medical officer TB control. A modular training for medical officers will also be held.” Lab technicians and auxiliary nurse midwives will also be trained.

Speaking to the media on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day at District TB Control Committee office at Sadar hospital, Dhanbad district TB control officer Prabhakar Kumar Bhagat said the patients would undergo treatment for about 24 months under his direct supervision as the medicines are highly toxic in nature. “The patients will have to undergo a toxicity, side effect, sensitivity and hyper sensitivity test for a fortnight at the state-of-the-art laboratory at Itki, Ranchi, before treatment begins,” the civil surgeon added.

Bhagat said altogether 36 designated microscopic centres were offering free sputum test and TB treatment in the district. “We are also planning to open more centres in collaboration with private hospitals of the district,” Bhagat said.

“We will also provide funds to NGOs provided they help us spread awareness regarding the disease,” he added.

Regarding the plan to intensity the programme in areas that remain uncovered like the Naxalite stronghold of Maniadih in Tundi, Bhagat said 20 new lab technicians would be recruited on March 29.