Standards of TB Care in India related to Public Health Action

A total of seven standards related to Public Health Actions (Standard 12 to Standard 18) have been mentioned in the standard for TB care in India guidelines. These standards are described below.

Standard 12: Public Health Responsibility

 It is the public health responsibility of the treating practitioner who is treating a tuberculosis patient to prevent ongoing transmission of the infection and the development of drug resistance.

 In order to fulfil the above responsibility, the practitioner must not only prescribe an appropriate regimen, but also utilise local public health services/ community health services, and Non-government Organisations (NGOs) for proper adherence.

Standard 13: Notification of TB cases

All health establishments must report all TB cases and their treatment outcomes to public health authorities.

Proper feedback needs to be ensured to all healthcare providers who refer cases to the public health system on the outcome of the patients which they had referred.

Standard 14: Maintain records for all TB patients

A written record of all medications given, bacteriologic response, adverse reactions and clinical outcomes should be maintained for all patients.

Standard 15: Contact Investigation

It is the responsibility of all care providers to screen all household contacts and other persons for TB who are in close contact with TB patients as per defined Diagnostic Standards.

 In the case of paediatric TB patients, reverse contact tracing for the search of any active TB case in the household of the child must be undertaken.

Standard 16: Isoniazid Prophylactic Therapy

 Children <6 years of age who are close contacts of active TB patients should be treated with isoniazid for a period of 6 months after excluding active TB.

Standard 17: Airborne Infection Control

 Airborne infection control should be an integral part of all health care facility infection control strategies.

Standard 18: Quality Assurance (QA) Systems

All health care providers should ensure that all diagnostic tests used for the diagnosis of TB are quality assured.

Quality assurance systems should ensure that all anti-TB drugs used in the country are subjected to stringent quality assurance mechanisms at all levels.

Resources

• Standards for TB Care in India, 2014.

Assessment