Realising TB as a major public health issue, the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) is soon planning to expand its training activities for community pharmacists, across India, to engage them in TB programme. IPA has been training the pharmacists for TB control under this public-private partnership model ever since its launch two years back starting from Mumbai.

Interestingly, the pharmacists are trained under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), which is a collaboration between IPA, government TB authorities and chemist associations. There has been memorandum of understanding (MoU) in place between Central TB Division, Ministry of Health with IPA, AIOCD, PCI and SEARPharm Forum for the same.

Under this, IPA has already completed training 500 pharmacists in different parts of Maharashtra in collaboration with RNTCP and local chemist associations, and over 50 in Ahmedabad and Indore while initiating the same in Goa. Through this programme, pharmacists are trained to identify suspected patients with tuberculosis (TB) and refer them to the nearest government hospital or sputum microscopy center.'

Manjiri Gharat, vice-president and chairperson of Community Pharmacy Division, IPA informed that interestingly, their role does not end in just identifying the patients but also involves ensuring provision of treatment. She added that once the pharmacist identifies and refers TB suspects for early diagnosis and treatment to prevent further spread of the infection, they also provide free anti-TB medicines directly observed treatment short course (DOTS). They also, under the RNTCP, counsel and supervise the patients for completion of treatment.

“It is important to note that TB is a dangerous but 100 per cent curable disease if diagnosed and correctly treated in time. Pharmacists, being first point of contact can play a very vital role in detecting and controlling this disease. By doing so, DOTS is made more patient centric and easily available for patients diagnosed positive through a government facility to get free medicines through the pharmacies. In Maharashtra we already have 150 plus pharmacists acting as DOT providers.  In Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, we have been able to get encouraging results from the ongoing programmes, prompting us to engage more pharmacists in these areas as well as to take this up further all across India,” pointed out Gharat.

She further added that pharmacists are doing this work without any particular monetary benefits and their socio-professional work is appreciated not only in India but internationally as well. In fact, it is understood that similar model is being replicated in many other high TB burden countries as well.