Corporator inspires diet idea for TB patients in city

Vijay Tandel has been distributing free eggs and biscuits to poor patients at a hospital in Kurla

The endeavour of a local corporator from L ward,comprising Kurla region,to provide nutritious diet to tuberculosis patients has encouraged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to launch a similar programme across the city from next year.

Vijay Tandel started providing free diet supplements boiled eggs and biscuits to TB patients after he noticed that most of the patients from his area were from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The major reason TB is rampant is lack of proper nutrition,and many TB patients in my ward are too poor to afford a high protein diet. They took medicines on empty stomach, said Tandel. He began distributing the biscuits and eggs in October 2012 at the Matoshri maternity home,Chunabhatti,where more than 40 TB patients were admitted.

According to Tandel,the hospital authorities prohibited him from free distribution after a while,following which he sent a request to Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar. She liked my idea and allowed me to officially carry out this exercise, Tandel said.

Mhaiskar,who plans to implement this as a corporation programme from next year,said the city records around 30,000 TB and 3,200 multi-drug resistant TB cases every year. Along with a heavy regimen of antibiotics which is part of DOTS (directly observed therapy,short-course) treatment,a patient needs to have a high level of nutrition. The plan of free protein diet will be certified by dietitians and then implemented in all wards. However,this year,it will kick start in L ward as a corporator is already supplying free supplements, Mhaiskar said.

Tandel said till June 30,L ward recorded 1,007 TB and 64 MDR-TB cases and the count was steadily increasing. A proposal is under discussion and a dietitian will be involved to decide the right supplements. Initially,patients in Kurlas Bhabha hospital and Matoshri maternity home will benefit from this theme, he said.

Following reports of high incidence of TB at civic hospitals,Sion hospital had implemented an improved breakfast plan for its 450-odd doctors from August 15.

There are around 33 items on the list formulated by a team of four dieticians and Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD). In the past month,the number of doctors having this breakfast increased from 150 to 350, said Dr Avinash Supe,dean of Sion hospital.

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In July,24-year-old intern Dr Samidha Khandare succumbed to MDR-TB,which raised serious doubts over the infection control measures at the hospital.

The breakfast cost,which has been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 25,consists of a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian item. According to Mhaiskar,this diet will be implemented at KEM and Nair hospitals from October.

tabassum.barnagarwala@expressindia.com

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