NGO Says 18 Mumbaikars Die Of Tuberclosis Every-day

Tuberculosis has dug its claws in the heart of the country and has thwarted every effort made to eradicate it. And we have yet again underestimated the deadly potential of this disease. In a recent survey conducted by NGO Praja, the results stated that 18 people succumb to Tuberculosis every-day. But the situation gets worse as the survey also stated that the dropout rate from extensive TB treatment has increased from 9% to 19% over the last year. The data compiled by Praja showed that from 30,828 patients undergoing Directly Observed Short Course Treatment (DOTS) in 2012, the patient count dropped to 15,767 in 2016.

Civic officials dismissed the NGO's analysis completely. "A health programme cannot be analysed based on some data randomly gathered using RTI," said civic TB officer Dr Daksha Shah. But the NGO spokesperson remained fixed on their point and stated the obvious conclusion, that there was something wrong with the BMC's (Public Health Department) disease control plan.

The data showed that patients prefer to go to private sector for the treatment which resulted in the increased drop-out rate in public lists. The data between these two organisations, one public and the other non-governmental has always been conflicting. According to data from Praja, deaths due to TB were estimated to be 6,472 in 2016-17 and 5,400 in 2015-16. In contrast, RNTCP data attributed 1,240 deaths to TB in 2016 and 1,459 in 2015.

The BMC has this discrepancy in the data by stating that the NGO does not use scientifically legitimate data to come to their findings. They use death certificates to analyse the cause of death but these certificates are not completely accurate. Despite the confusion, it is evident that Tuberculosis is spreading rapidly in the city and consequently in the nation.

Also read: WHO's Recommended Treatment To Tackle Tuberculosis Not Yet Implemented

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