As high as 51% of tuberculosis (TB) patients surveyed in India said that they were less likely to seek care during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic because they feared contracting the viral infection, according to the Global Coalition of TB Activists (GCTA) report—Impact of COVID-19 on the TB Epidemic: A Community Perspective—released in India on Thursday.
About 37% of patients being treated for TB said that they were not receiving enough non-medical support, and as high as 85% of health care workers, policy and programme officers said there was a significant decrease in TB testing in the country during the nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic.
The report is based on a survey of five stakeholder groups—frontline health care workers, policy and programme officers, TB researchers, TB survivors or TB advocates, and people currently on treatment for TB—to measure the impact of Covid-19 on the tuberculosis (TB) programme.
At least 1,000 people from 89 countries around the world participated, including 132 from India, by sharing their observations and experiences about resource availability and constraints, as well as challenges and opportunities.
According to the survey report, about 80% of health care workers said that the number of people coming to their health facilities for TB testing had decreased significantly during the lockdown, largely due to fear of contracting the infection.
{{/usCountry}}According to the survey report, about 80% of health care workers said that the number of people coming to their health facilities for TB testing had decreased significantly during the lockdown, largely due to fear of contracting the infection.
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“Patients are scared to come for follow-ups due to the risk of being punished by authorities for presenting late and they’re also unable to get opinions and services of allied specialists like Ophthalmologists,” the report says.
It adds that several TB testing machines have also been diverted to test samples for Covid-19 as part of government’s efforts to scale up Covid-19 testing to test, track and treat those infected.
Not just the treatment, TB-related research work has also been greatly affected during this pandemic, with 75% of TB researchers agreeing that they did not have the necessary resources to do so.
“We have to protect existing TB resources, otherwise I’m super concerned that next year we would be dealing with stock outs of everything to do with TB. TB medicine, TB tests, TB vaccines, even sputum cups may not be available for us,” said Dr Madhukar Pai, director, McGill TB Centre, professor and Canada Research Chair, Epidemiology and Global Health McGill University, in the report.
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“The Covid-19 pandemic has created new challenges at all levels of care and treatment and we must look at these as opportunities. The biggest change can only stem from the biggest canvas. We are committed to working with communities and ensuring competent care for all,” said Dr KS Sachdeva, deputy director general, central TB division, Union health and family welfare ministry.
The India launch of the report is part of a broader global survey report that was released earlier this month on September 15.