24th March 2008

World TB day is celebrated each year to commemorate the day, in 1882, when Robert Koch discovered M.tuberculosis, the TB bacterium. The symptoms of tuberculosis are coughing sputum or blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. The theme this year is ‘I am stopping TB’.

Top five Breath-Stopping Facts about Tuberculosis

Did you know-

• That someone in the world is newly infected with TB bacilli every second?
• That one-third of the world population is currently infected by TB?
• That there are two deaths per three minutes in India due to TB?
• That over six lakh Indians are unaware that they suffer from TB?
• That every TB patient infects 10-15 new persons on an average every year?

These are worrying facts brought out by the World Health Organization’s latest global tuberculosis control report, which warns that detection rates of TB are drastically falling in India and in China.

The findings are worrying, because the report reveals that ’the African region, China and India collectively account for 69% of undetected cases’. This high prevalence depletes the income of the poorest communities by 1.2 billion annually. India is one among the high burden countries in terms of TB patients

With a failed attempt from 1968 to 1993 with the National TB Control(NTBC) Programme, India had switched over to the Revised National TB Control(RNTBC) Programme, which concentrates on the personal attention of the health staff on each TB patient. Thus, India hopes to cut down TB prevalence and death rate by half, by the year 2015.

History Of TB in India

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and easily transmitted through air, has been India’s bane right from the days of the Vedas and Samhitas.

The first open air sanatorium for treatment and isolation of TB patients in India was founded in 1906 in Tiluania, near Ajmer, and then at Almora two years later.

Dr Frimodt Moller a medical superintendent, played a prominent role in TB control in India. This included training health workers, conducting surveys and introducing Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccination.

The British also helped with the funding and establishment of the TB Association of India (TAI) in February, 1939. India then, which included Bangladesh and Pakistan, had around two and a half million patients and half a million TB deaths annually, according to a committee appointed at that time.

Diagnosis was an issue, and there were lack of X-ray machines to zero in on TB patients. There was no single drug that was particularly effective against TB, till mid 20th century. The remedy was said to be good food, open air and dry climate.

Fighting Tuberculosis

Post World War II, India began an effort to fight TB with greater determination. It launched a mass BCG Campaign in 1951. There also began experiments into effective dosages.

In 1952, it was found that INH is a miracle drug against TB and it continues as such till date. The other anti-TB drugs used as of now are