Fixed-Dose Combination(FDC) provides a simple approach to deliver the correct number of drugs at the right dosage as all the necessary drugs are combined in a single tablet. By altering the number of pills according to the patient’s body weight, complete treatment is delivered without the need for calculation of dose

Figure: Advantages of Fixed Dose Combination(FDC)

Describe the various FDCs under use in NTEP.

Describe the advantages of FDCs over individual drugs.

Fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) are drug formulations where two or more drugs are combined physically into one formulation such as a tablet or pill.

This is more convenient to the patients taking medicines and it also simplifies the supply chain.

Resources:

Standard TB Treatment is divided into two phases

• Intensive Phase(IP): In this phase,
  • Kills most of the TB bacteria during the first 8 weeks of treatment, but some bacteria can survive longer
  • Therefore, more drugs are administered to kill the bacteria and reduce the severity of disease.
  • Treatment in this phase usually is of short duration(2 to 6 Months or more) in comparison to Continuation Phase(CP)

Management of TB Disease starts once TB is diagnosed and consists of various stages from treatment initiation to completion and post treatment followup.

During treatment there will be continuous monitoring, including adherence monitoring, clinical and laboratory followup, and Adverse Drug Reaction Management.

The treatment course is divided into two phases, the intensive and the continuation phase.

First line drugs are the least toxic and most effective drugs that are used in first line of therapy.

The first-line antituberculosis drugs that form the core of treatment regimens are

As TB is an airborne infection, TB bacteria are released into the air when someone with infectious TB coughs or sneezes. The risk of infection can be reduced by taking simple precautions:

Figure: Measures for control and prevention of tuberculosis

• Community Health Volunteers play a significant role in increasing awareness regarding the burden of TB and the importance of preventing it and regularly screening the population.
• Community Health Volunteers should use the various platforms in the communities, such as the PRI meetings, school meetings etc., for spreading the information on TB. Using such media, the Community Health Volunteers should focus on building community awareness to improve the patients' health-seeking behaviour.

Discuss the role of Health Volunteers in the community for case finding.