Indian apex court orders daily treatment for TB

Author: app/afp

NEW DELHI: Millions of tuberculosis (TB) patients in India will receive daily treatment after the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the government to change the current dosing practice amid activist claims that it was endangering lives.

Around 2.5 million new cases of TB were reported in India in 2015, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Around 200,000 people Indian die every year from TB, according to various estimates.

From October, those with TB will get daily tablets for free, instead of three times a week. Raman Kakkar, an activist who submitted a petition in the country’s top court, said that the government was obsessed with the intermittent treatment even though the WHO approved daily drugs.

“The government’s reluctance to shift to new dosage was causing a relapse of the disease in many patients and was even responsible for the development of drug-resistant infections,” Kakkar said. The government said it would switch to the new dosage after nine months, when the existing stock of medicines had finished.

Share
Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

  • Editorial

Targeted Tragedy

By the time of writing this editorial on Thursday evening, the number of innocent passengers…

1 hour ago
  • Cartoons

TODAY’S CARTOON

1 hour ago
  • Editorial

Sour Sweeteners

Sugar. The sweetener word brings sour taste to one's mind when people come across the…

1 hour ago
  • Op-Ed

Trump’s Bureaucracy Cuts

The stunning results of the USA elections surprised both Democrats and Republicans alike. Trump's unprecedented…

1 hour ago
  • Op-Ed

Countering Misinformation

The advancement of technology around the world and the widespread spread of social media have…

1 hour ago
  • Op-Ed

“It’s the economy stupid!”

Pakistan's democratic system is in jeopardy. Civilians and the military have taken turns to rule…

1 hour ago