Shatabdi starts special OPD to help TB patients

In a move that will strengthen the tuberculosis (TB) eradication programme of the city, a well-equipped TB outpatient department (OPD) has been started at MMM Shatabdi Hospital of Govandi. The M East ward, which houses the hospital, has highest number of TB cases across the 24 wards of the city. Officials confirmed that this new coalition between international medical experts, Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) aims at reducing the morbidity, mortality and transmission of TB and drug-resistant TB.

The international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, together with RNTCP and MCGM will look after the newly-constructed ward, consisting of four container units comprising consultation rooms, counselling rooms and microscopy lab. As the ward is situated on a separate site within the hospital compound, it provides optimal conditions for infection control.

Officials confirmed that the activities in this new OPD would improve early case detection and diagnosis of TB and DR-TB. All presumptive TB cases will be tested with GeneXpert — a rapid diagnostic test that detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis and resistance to drugs such as rifampicin in less than two hours. Patients detected with DR-TB will receive first and second line drug susceptibility testing (DST) for 13 drugs, which will assist in differentiating between the different types of DR-TB. The treatment regimen for such patients will then be adapted according to their DST results. Patients will also be given psychosocial support during the course of their treatment. All services are free of charge.

“The process of introducing DST guided treatment regimens in Mumbai needs to be accelerated,” said Rebecca Welfare, MSF’s project coordinator in Mumbai.