Improved Nutrition can reduce risk of TB

Improved Nutrition can reduce risk of TB

News: Good nutrition reduces TB incidence, curbs mortality, says new Lancet study.

What are the key findings of the study?
The Reducing Activation of Tuberculosis by Improvement of Nutritional Status (RATIONS) trial conducted in Jharkhand (the state has a high TB burden) revealed:
• Better nutrition among patients with lung TB can lead to a 40% reduction in all forms of TB and a nearly 50% reduction in infectious TB
• Underweight TB patients who experience early weight gain can have their risk of mortality reduced by 60%.
• Nearly 30 households would need to be provided nutritional supplementation to prevent one case of TB
• The trials’ findings are particularly significant as undernutrition has emerged as a leading risk factor for TB worldwide. These results could have policy implications and contribute to India’s goal of eliminating TB by 2025

What is TB?
• Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious airborne bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It most commonly affects the lungs but can also damage other parts of the body.
• Types of TB related conditions – I) Active TB II) Latent TB III) Multi-Drug Resistant TB III) Extensive Drug Resistant TB (More serious condition than MDR TB where it is resistant to both first and second line TB drugs)

What are causes of high TB occurrence in India?
• A majority of TB patients in India get affected due to undernourishment. Poverty impacts their accessibility to food and ability to get treated which makes them more susceptible to occurrence and continuance of TB.
• Bad habits such as smoking tobacco which is a strong risk factor for both developing TB and dying from it.
• One of the major factors of TB prevalence in India is under-reporting of TB cases. This leaves the risk of spreading TB to other healthy individuals.
• Due to fear of stigmatization and social discrimination patients hesitate to seek treatment and in some cases completely deny their condition.

What are steps taken by government to combat TB?
• TB Haarega Desh Jeetega Campaign
• Nikshay Poshan Yojana – Nutritional support to TB patients.
• National Strategic Plan for TB elimination (2017-25) - It plans to provide incentives to private providers for following the standard protocols for diagnosis and treatment as well as for notifying the government of cases.
• Injectable kanamycin, which caused kidney failure and deafness, has been replaced by Bedaquiline and Delamanid. These new pharmaceuticals have also been included in the new National List of Essential Medicines, giving the government the authority to control their market pricing.