Centre to give 500 to TB patients every month:

Centre to give 500 to TB patients every month:

Context

About 35 lakh identified tuberculosis patients across the country will soon get 500 every month from the Centre as social support.

Earlier Proposal

Earlier proposal was to provide this cash benefit only to tribal and BPL patients, all the 35 lakh identified patients would be covered now

Why

The cash benefit for social support that will cover loss of wages, travel and mainly nutrition

Guidance document

• It pointed out that under-nutrition is an established risk factor for progression of latent TB infection to active TB.
• According to the guidance document, under-nutrition is a serious co-morbidity in patients with active TB in India, and increases the risk of severe disease, death, drug toxicity, drug mal-absorption and relapse after cure.
• Nutritional assessment, counselling and support are now considered integral aspects of care of TB patient
• Therefore these elements need to be integrated into the overall management of patients with active TB in India
• TB is inextricably linked to determinants of health such as malnutrition and low immunity due to social deprivation and marginalisation. Poor nutrition is increasing the risk by three-fold.

Take-home ration

The state governments should take it upon themselves and provide this. Rather than processed food, take home rations will be better.

Some states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu are already doing this

Early Detection

This will also help in early case detection and treatment compliance.

What the guidance document has

• Guidelines on nutritional assessment, counselling and support
• A simplified field chart for doctors and health workers to make patient-specific assessment of required nutrition
• Recommendation that patients should also be screened for anaemia
• Recommends extra care for management of severely undernourished patients
• Severely undernourished patients should be hospitalised

Why is nutrition important?

• Weights in TB patients are among the lowest in the world
• 50% of adult men weigh below 43 kg
• 50% of adult women weigh below 38 kg