Hyderabad, March 25:Only nine per cent of HIV positive people are diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis while close to 14 per cent of patients testing negative for HIV are diagnosed as suffering from TB.
According to Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy, close to 80 per cent of TB patients in the State were aware of their HIV status at the time of registration itself and this was one of the highest percentage among all the States in the country.
Around 8 per cent of the people that visit the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres were being identified as TB suspects and referred for TB diagnosis under the Revised National TB Control Programme. Speaking at a press conference organised on the occasion of World TB Day on Thursday, the Minister said several initiatives had been launched in the State as part of the revised national programme and Andhra Pradesh was now the national centre for training of trainers in DOTS Plus. The initiatives to enhance surveillance had helped in examination of over 5.6 lakh cases and about 1.14 lakh TB cases had been detected.
Of the total cases, over 56,000 had been detected as new smear positive (infectious) and they had been administered directly observed treatment.
Dr. Reddy sought the cooperation of the media in helping the government create awareness among people on the incidence of TB. This would enable the government in bringing down the prevalence rate in line with the target set to reduce deaths due to TB by half by 2015.
–Agencies