India TB Public Health Concerns

A serious public health concern in India is tuberculosis (TB). There are around 300,000 TB-related fatalities and three million new cases of the illness reported year. Under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY), the Ministry of Health has raised the monthly cash assistance from ?500 to ?1,000. In addition, a ?3,000 one-time payment will be made at the time of diagnosis. These programs are designed to help TB patients throughout their whole course of therapy.

Significance of Nutritional Support for Patients with Tuberculosis

• Undernourished patients with TB have poorer treatment outcomes but also the resultant of new cases in India can be a direct or indirect consequence of malnutrition, requiring nutritional support for all TB patients.

Social Determinants of TB

• Tuberculosis (TB) is further exacerbated by the risk factors of overcrowding, poverty, and undernutrition.
• Poor populations tend to have a higher prevalence of other risk factors, such as diabetes and substance abuse.

TB Patient Contexts with Problems

• Loss of income and food insecurity as a result of TB affect patients.
• Costs of treatment are spiralling, causing deeper financial distress.
• Even worse, they have trouble going back to work, which worsens their financial condition.

The literature supporting nutritional interventions

• Providing nutritional interventions worked in the RATIONS trial.
• Food baskets and micronutrient supplements as simple, inexpensive interventions to reduce the incidence of new TB .

Assessment of Nikshay Poshan Yojana

• Mental overload of TB staff due to additional responsibilities in other sectors.
• Non-identification, No Bank Accounts and Geographical Limitations can be a road block for Vulnerable communities to reap the benefits.

Improvement Suggestions

• Allocated staff to work in relation to NPY and culturally relevant mental health resources
• Measures to safeguard patient confidentiality, and redesign the Nikshay Mitra scheme.

Automating Support Programs

• Provide stable drug supply, good in-comorbidity management and prompt diagnosis assessments