Among peers and neighbours India is performing the worst when it comes to the health of its citizens.

The Delhi Government would be starting Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) services at night shelters run by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board in a bid to ensure effective control over the incidence of tuberculosis in the city, Health Minister A.K. Walia said on Monday.

The Minister said that to begin with the service would be provided at 25 night shelters and will be gradually expanded throughout Delhi. “The shelter-less population is the most vulnerable to tuberculosis as this section frequently defaults in regular treatment. The adherence to treatment is a big challenge for this segment of people,’’ the Minister said.

Some 40 drugs will soon be notified under a new schedule, H1, of Drugs and Cosmetics Act to make it mandatory for chemists to maintain a register of their sales and retain a copy of the prescription. This will be in addition to the schedule H drugs which, too, can't be sold without prescription.

Besides, packs of H1 drugs will carry a prominent warning in red stating that it is dangerous to take these drugs without doctor's prescription. The decision, which Central Drugs and Standards Control Organisation hopes will arrest the rising incidence of resistance to antibiotics in the country, was taken at the 62nd meeting of Drug Technical Advisory Board Wednesday.

Xpert, the quick test for tuberculosis already endorsed by WHO, has been found accurate for TB including drug-resistant strains, according to a new study publsihed in The Cochrane Library.

WHO in 2010 endorsed the two-hour, molecular diagnostic TB test, which requires little skilled expertise. With the cost of the test now reduced to under $10 per cartridge thyanks to several donors, it is being rolled out in more than 20 countries including India.

Aimed at helping school children to avoid the negative effect of irrational use of medicines, the Delhi Society for Promotion of Rational Use of Drugs (DSPRUD) in collaboration with Delhi Public Sc

The disease burden saw 14 per cent increase to 31,536 cases per district during October from September’s 27,587 cases.

The National Tuberculosis Centre is preparing to conduct a tuberculosis prevalence survey across the country.

JAIPUR: The United Nations (UN) Human Rights report - 2012 gives an account of the unhealthy and exploitative conditions of mine workers in the state. Published by the working group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR) for India's review at UN suggests that minimal wages, poor working conditions and lack of training are rampant in the mining sector in the state.

In its study WGHR found that more than 95% of mining activities in the state fall in the domain of unorganized sector. Out of the total miners almost 37% are women and most of them are dalits or tribals. The most concerning revelation is about the health status of the mineworkers.

Active against drug-resistant forms, the FDA-approved drug is a game changer

While there is a lot of hope and enthusiasm over the new tuberculosis drug, first in close to 50 years, health activists say the challenge for countries like India and treatment providers is devising new treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB that are shorter, and more tolerable for patients and effective. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the new TB drug bedaquiline, the first since 1963. The fact that the drug is active against drug-resistant forms of the disease makes it a potential game changer.