The National Tuberculosis Center (NTC) said it has set up 10 hostels in the five development regions. The hostels will come in operation within a month. [break]
The Global Fund has provided financial assistance to the government to set up the hostels. The NTC said the fund has committed to provide assistance for at least five years.
MDR-TB is resistant to at least two powerful first-line anti TB drugs. Doctors say that if TB patients do not take their medicines as prescribed, the TB bacteria may become resistant to certain drugs.
“People with MDR TB disease have been treated with special drugs,” Dr, Bhawana Shrestha, of the German Nepal TB Project said. She said the infection of the MDR-TB is a very serious problem. “It is better if the patients can be kept isolated from others,” she added.
People who spend time with MDR TB patient run the risk of getting infected. Shrestha said all patients with MDR-TB disease must see a TB expert who can closely observe their progress and make sure the medication is working. The drugs for MDR-TB cause more side effects and patients become weak while taking the drugs.
“The hostel is targeted at those patients who cannot come to DOTS clinic,” a coordinator at NTC, Badrinath Gyawali said. He said that a hostel can accommodate only 10 patients. About 1,000 MDR patients have been registered until now.
According to an estimate, every year 40,000 new patients are infected. Last year alone 37,000 new cases were identified.
TB is an air-borne disease, therefore, isolation of the patients is advisable. But due to the lack of enough beds, the country has opted to run TB programs through TB centers.
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