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Shortage of medicine hits drug-resistant TB patients in city
Currently, Pune city has around 445 DR-TB patients who need second-line antibiotics like Cycloserine
PUNE: As the health department of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is facing an acute shortage of the antibiotic Cycloserine used for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), patients have been asked to purchase the medicines from outside. According to civic officials however, the shortage has been caused due to the lack of supply from the state government.
Drug-resistant TB – wherein the bacteria do not respond to common, first-line antibiotics – is more difficult to treat. Currently, Pune city has around 445 DR-TB patients who need second-line antibiotics like Cycloserine. It is drug shortage that has mainly affected the Centre’s national TB control and elimination programme in the city.
Dr Prashant Bothe, city TB officer, said, “The shortage is due to the lack of supply from the state government. The patients are being asked to purchase the medicines for a period of one week till which time, we will make local purchases. The PMC is in the process of purchasing this medicine and the problem might get resolved after a week.”
A single-day dose of Cycloserine administered to DR-TB patients costs ₹150 and they have to take the medicine every day for a period of either nine or 18 months. Doctors and health activists claim that the shortage has affected several DR-TB patients seeking treatment under the Centre’s national TB control programme in Pune. So much so that the gap in doses could lead to patients relapsing or developing resistance even to second-line antibiotics.
Dr Mahavir Modi, chest physician at Ruby Hall Clinic, said that patients too have started complaining about the shortage of the drug in the city. On an average, they come across eight to 10 new cases of DR-TB every month, he said. “Private hospitals mostly refer MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant TB) patients to government facilities. It’s only for consultation and follow-up that they go to private hospitals. The drug regime of this medicine is long and has to be taken for a period of nine months or 18 months. It is important to take the medicine on time as an interruption in treatment could lead to relapse or patients developing resistance,” Dr Modi said.
