After AIDS, TB cases come down

8220;The survey is done every three years and after compiling the numbers from year 2003, it has been concluded that there has been a downfall of 12.6 per cent in the prevalence rate of people living with the disease,8221; said Dr LS Chauhan, Deputy Director General, TB Division.

The survey was carried in the Tiruvallur district, 40-km west of Chennai. Tiruvallur has been the sample area for the research centre ever since they started surveys in 1999. 8220;The trend in this area gives us a clear indication about the whole country. If the cases are going down in this district, there is no reason for us to not to believe that the trend differs in other places. This is how we have been finding the prevalence for all these years,8221; said a senior official in the Ministry.

Transmission of the diseased has also gone down by six per cent.

Experts attribute the new findings on the implementation of Directly Observed Treatment Shot Course DOTS. The entire country was brought under the DOTS programme last year, helping India achieve the global target of detection of 70 per cent new cases. In 2006 itself a total of 1.4 million cases were brought under DOTS.

Things may be going in the right direction, but officials say a lot still needs to be done. Hence, two large scale studies covering the whole of the country has been initiated and the results are expected to come by 2009.

8220;A disease prevalence survey and an annual risk of TB infection will be started in all four zones of the country,8221; said a senior official in the Health Ministry.

8220;Different centres including PGI, Chandigarh, AIIMS, Research Institute in Bangalore, TRC, Chennai, are going to work in tandem to know the exact numbers and the prevalence rate, which will only come by 2009,8221; added Dr Chauhan.