Maharashtra intensifies focus on private health sector to eliminate TB

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The is set to rope in 45 NGOs to work closely with private doctors as part of its strategy to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025.
These NGOs, also called patient-provider support agency (PPSA), will work with private doctors to find TB patients and put them on treatment without compromising their confidentiality. The new NGOs are besides the existing 35 such entities.

Those seeking care from state and Municipal Corporation-run hospitals are followed by dedicated Health staff till they finish the six-month-long treatment and are fully cured. But not everyone seeking care from private doctors, clinics and hospitals gets such care.

As per the national TB prevalence survey, for every one lakh Population in India, there are 199 TB patients. Going by

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the prevalence rate, Maharashtra, with its 12.87 crore population, is expected to have 2.5 lakh TB patients. Of these, almost 1 lakh seek care from private doctors, and the rest go to state and municipal corporation-run health units.

Under PPSA, a third-party agency is on-boarded to engage private-sector doctors who treat patients with TB and provide end-to-end Services, including diagnosis, notification, patient adherence and support, and treatment linkages, he added.

Under the project, a TB patient seeking medical care at a private clinic or hospital is also provided with free diagnostics and medications.