Telangana health officials to distribute free MDR-TB drug

Bedaquiline drug-resistant TB treatment regimen has come as a ray of hope for patients in the last few years and it renders patients non-infectious to other contacts much faster.

Editorial Team | Published: August 13, 2018 9:09 am

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Telangana government will bring huge relief to patients suffering from Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) Tuberculosis (TB). It is believed that India is the home for the highest number of MDR-TB cases. Now, the health authorities of Telangana is going to distribute Bedaquiline drug for TB throughout the State.

This free distribution of Bedaquiline drug for all drug-resistant TB patients will have a major impact. Generally, the TB patients suffer while following the traditional regime for treating MDR-TB. And the treatment lasts for nearly 2 years. This treatment also carries a huge risk of non-adherence to drugs and it is expensive too. According to the Telangana Today report, studies have found that drug-resistant TB patients find it tough to stick to the long treatment regimen. Even a single dosage of the drug often proves costly for few patients.

Recently, the state TB officials along with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) had launched a drug-resistant TB treatment regimen that lasts for one year.

According to the Telanagan Today reports, the officials said that the introduction of drug Bedaquiline could further play a significant role in reducing the treatment duration.

Bedaquiline drug-resistant TB treatment regimen has come as a ray of hope for patients in the last few years and it renders patients non-infectious to other contacts much faster.

The State TB authorities said that Bedaquiline will be given to patients who fulfil certain criteria. Initially, the services will be available through the nodal centres at Hyderabad and Warangal. In the coming months, two more centres in Khammam and Ranga Reddy will be added. The regions to set-up nodal centres for distribution of Bedaquiline were selected based on the spread of the drug-resistant TB, officials clarified. The cost of each Bedaquiline bottle is around Rs. 80,000 which contains close to 188 pills, but as per as the new initiative the six-month course will be available free of cost.

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Published: August 13, 2018 9:09 am

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