To control TB, National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP) has been in operation in the country since 1962. This could not achieve the desired results. Therefore, it was reviewed by an expert committee in 1992 and based on its recommendations, Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), which is an application to India of WHO-recommended strategy of Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS), was launched in the country on 26 March 1997. The objectives of RNTCP are (i) to achieve and maintain a cure rate of at least 85% among newly detected infectious TB cases and (ii) achieve and maintain detection of at least 70% of such cases in the population. RNTCP was implemented in the country in a phased manner and by 23rd March 2006 the entire country has been covered under RNTCP. The Programme is being implemented with assistance from World Bank, DFID, USAID, GDF and GFATM.
Overall performance of the RNTCP for the country has been excellent with cure/treatment completion rate consistently above 85% and death rate among patients registered for treatment reduced to less than 5%. More than ninety per cent of the new smear-positive cases detected are being put under DOTS. Till date, the RNTCP has placed more then 70.73 lakh patients under treatment, averting more than 12.73 lakh deaths. Every month, more than 1,00,000 patients are placed under treatment. In 2006 alone, India placed around 14 lakh cases on DOTS, more than any country in a single year in the world. The Programme envisages to develop an effective partnerships with the health care provider outside the public health system including NGOs, Private Practitioners (PPs), Corporate sectors etc. Treatment of MDR-TB patients by following DOTS-Plus strategy has been launched in the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra in early 2007 and will be extended to the entire country in a phased manner.
