STLS

Video: TB Notification Register

Treatment Support Groups play an important role in providing treatment support to TB patients. It has been envisioned as a non-statutory body of socially responsible citizens and volunteers to provide social support to TB patients. This group goes beyond just providing treatment-related support as it also helps the community in accessing information, free and quality services and linkage to social welfare programmes without compromising confidentiality and respecting the dignity of the patient.

At treatment initiation a suitable Treatment Supporter has to be identified and assigned to the Patient.

How to identify a Treatment supporter for a patient 

Relationship between Cancer and Tuberculosis (TB)

TB and malignancy may be related in the following four ways:

Silicosis is a progressive and disabling interstitial lung disease caused by inhalation and deposition in the lungs of particles of free silica.

Mutual Risk of TB and Silicosis

The NTEP has prioritized the target population for TPT based on elevated risk of progression from infection to TB disease or increased likelihood of exposure to TB disease. 

The target populations have been divided into two groups:

1. Household contacts of bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary TB patients notified in Nikshay from public and private sector.

In the cascade of care approach, all target populations (People Living with HIV (PLHIV), Household Contacts (HHCs) and other such groups) who are at risk of developing TB disease are systematically reached out, screened for TB disease and after ruling out active TB disease, provided TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) as a part of the continuum of care.

The cascade of care approach among TPT target populations is shown in Figure 1.

There are two programmatic approaches for Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy (TPT) implementation:

1. Test-and-treat approach – This approach aims to detect TB infection among key groups for implementing TPT.

Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) and Tuberculin Skin Tests (TST) are performed on individuals who are ruled out for active TB disease.