TB -HIV CO INFECTION

[Guest guest]

Dear all

My personal opinion regarding the public health approach in co-infection

management:

The tri weekly DOTS regimen for TB is borrowed from it's poorer cousin -Leprosy,

where they had a monthly supervised pulsed dose of

RMP/RMP+CLOF, which has been in vogue since 1982 and also has

successfully brought down the prevalence of leprosy globally and

nationally down to < 1/10,000

Now that the country has been entirely covered by RNTCP this month is it not

possible tp involve the same DOTS providers to give ART also supervised for the

6-8 months the y are in the TB programme

Unless ART is given free of charge, there is no point in diagnosing new HIV/AIDS

cases, come on health providers tell me one disease where you diagnose the

patients and dont treat them with appropriate drugs.

Who are we to diagnose them and then brand them for them to suffer the stigma

and discrimination, if we cannot provide the appropriate

treatment

GIVE THEM HOPE-PROVIDE THEM FREE ART. IT'THEIR RIGHT.WE CAN MOBILISE

RESOURCES IF WE WANT

In leprosy we had a political commitment {Indra Gandhi-1977 World

Health Assembly}, we had a tool in MDT [Free to the patient} patiens

of leprosy came to get diagnosed and get treated

Atleast let us begin with Co-infection

mathews m

E-mail: <docmathews@...>