Abstract

A STUDY ON SAFETY PRACTICES OF TREATMENT BOX BY DIRECTLY OBSERVE TREATMENT (DOT) PROVIDERS UNDER REVISED NATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL PROGRAMME (RNTCP) IN RAIPUR DISTRICT OF CHHATTISGARH STATE, INDIA

Dr. Dhiraj Bhawnani*, Dr. Nirmal Verma, Dr. Kiran G. Makade, Dr. Gayatri Bandhi, Dr. Ramesh Chandrakar

Abstract

Background- Every year approximately 1.8 million people develop TB and nearly 400,000 die from it in India. In RNTCP, Safe storage of treatment box is as important as right dose and timely drug administration. In new guideline for DOT plus, poor drug storage has been mentioned as a cause of development of drug resistance by interrupting with the quality of drug supplied. In keeping view all these points, current study was planned to assess the safety practices of treatment box by DOT providers under Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme in Raipur district. Methodology – A cross sectional observational community based study was conducted using simple random sampling in all 33 Designated Microscopic Centres (DMC’s) of Raipur district from November 2011 to October 2012. During the study, 136 DOT providers were included. The obtained data were analyzed using appropriate statistical test. Results- Safety Practices of the treatment box was followed appropriately by only 12.5% of DOT Providers. It was significantly associated with age, sex, education, occupation, training status, area of DMC and frequency of Supervisor visit. Conclusion- There should be 100% modular training coverage and safety practices of treatment box should have a special mention. DOT providers should be motivated to ensure safety practices of treatment box even if it is some local arrangement.

Keywords: DOT provider, Raipur, RNTCP, Safety practices, Treatment box.