Tags:
Journalism of Courage
New Delhi, March 24: Private practitioners are going to join hands with the Government Tuberculosis Control Programme in a big way thanks to the Delhi Medical Association. Doctors of the DMA will refer their TB patients to the nearest government DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) centre where they can get their sputum tested for the disease and also get free medicines. The DMA also plans to open DOTS units in the clinics or nursing homes of its members to supply free medicines.
Asked why doctors should forgo patients and their fees, State Tuberculosis Control Office chief J.N. Banawalikar says: “We are not trying to snatch the bread and butter. The doctors know that even the poorest TB patient is willing to pay his doctor’s fee. But he fails to take his medicines for the entire course making his condition incurable,” he says. DMA is optimistic that many of its 9,000 members are willing to cooperate. “They are already helping with our AIDS programme,” DMA TB control committee chief, Sarvesh Kumar says.
“We are sure that doctors will agree to have DMA’s separate DOTS centres in their clinics. The government will supply medicines, while we will make our own arrangements for microscopes for sputum tests,” he said. He said that the DMA’s DOTS centres will not have the expensive medicines required for multi-drug resistant TB patients. “By June 1, at least some DOTS centres will be ready,” DMA vice president Prem Seth said. While Seth believes that hundreds of DMA DOTS centres will sprout all over Delhi, he adds, however, that is not such a certainty at least in the immediate future.
“That is in the long run,” says Banawalikar. “We have to strengthen what is already there before we open more centres. Besides, numbers make it difficult to monitor use of medicines,” he says.
At present, there are 102 DOTS centres in Delhi.
