Vietnamese team in city to study chemists’ TB training programme

Vietnam’s TB control programme may adopt the chemists’ training programme for tuberculosis (TB) control, that was launched in Mumbai after extremely drug resistant tuberculosis cases were reported in the city.

Vietnam’s TB control programme may adopt the chemists’ training programme for tuberculosis (TB) control, that was launched in Mumbai after extremely drug resistant tuberculosis cases were reported in the city.

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A 12-member team comprising Vietnamese government health officials and PATH, an international not-for-profit reached Mumbai on Tuesday for a three-day visit to study the training programme run on a public-private-partnership model.

“In Vietnam we have involved pharmacists for TB detection and referring suspected TB patients to hospitals. However, they are not yet trained for providing DOTS (directly observed treatment short-course),” said Nguyen Diep, programme officer from PATH, Vietnam. “We are here to study the programme and how it can be adopted in our national TB programme.” The team also went to pharmacies in Mulund to see how chemists stock DOTS boxes for each patient and maintain treatment record cards.

According World Health Organisation estimates almost 30,000 people die every year from TB in Vietnam. Vietnam ranks 12th among the 22 countries with the highest TB burden.

The Indian Pharmacists Association, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, jointly have been training chemists in Mumbai and suburbs of Kalyan and Navi Mumbai for patient identification, referrals and becoming DOTS providers.