Chhattisgarh faces scarcity of TB medicines

Raipur | Correspondent : Chhattisgarh tuberculosis patient to face consequences due to shortage of TB medicines. For several months the state has been struggling with this issue. while for the past months, there has been no new supply of the drugs from the central government.

TB medicines, typically provided by the central government are now unavailable in many cities even in the open market.

The shortage is alarming as the Central government aimed to make the Chhattisgarh state TB-free by December 2023. However, with the thousands of patients affected in the state.

The lack of medicine has raised the risk of increasing drug-resistant TB among these patients.

In response, the state government has instructed government hospitals to acquire the TB medicines from the open market.

While, the medicines are unavailable in the in adequate amount in these places.

Despite this the government health officials are denying the shortage of drugs and besides, claiming that the district-level officials are not collecting the medicines from the headquarters.

No officer is ready to speak about the situation on record.

The number of tuberculosis (TB) patients in the state has been steadily declining over the past years.

In the year 2018, there were a total of 43,436 TB patients which dropped to 34,749 in the year 2020, which further declined to 30,405 in the year 2021. By year 2022, the number of TB patients have reduced to 26,062 and in 2023, it fell to 21,718.

As per the doctor’s medication, patients must take medicines on a daily basis on a fixed schedule.

Missing even one dose is considered as serious negligence. However, the central government’s failure to supply the medicine on time is considered as a significant crisis for the TB patients.