Tuberculosis: The Good, The Bad and The Unfinished!
Tuberculosis (TB) has been with humans since time immemorial. We have been trying to get rid of TB since centuries. Have we done enough? Of course not! TB is still the leading cause of death. What can be done to eliminate TB? This could be a wrong question to ask. We must ask ourselves, what have we done till date and what more can be done to prevent huge loss to mankind from TB. This article gives an account of what has been done so far (the good!); where did we go wrong (the bad!); and what must be done (the unfinished!) to decrease the burden of TB, in India. Let’s start with the progress made thus far, or the “good”. India has come a long way from starting a National TB Program in 1962 (mainly for hospitalizing treatment) to rolling out Revised National TB Program (RNTP) in 1993 and Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) in 1997 to achieving its nationwide coverage by 2006. The national programs imbibed the WHO’s Direct Observed Therapy Shortcourse (DOTS) Str
