DIMAPUR, MARCH 22 (MExN): The Nagaland State Directorate of Health and Family Welfare today informed that non notification of TB cases by clinical establishments, pharmacies, chemists and druggists is a criminal offence. A press note from the directorate stated that this is in line with a gazette issued by the centre as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s goal to eliminate TB by 2025.
In order to ensure proper diagnosis of Tuberculosis and its management in patients and their contacts and to reduce the transmission of this disease and further to address the problems of emergence and spread of Drug Resistant TB, it is essential to collect complete information of all TB patients, it stressed. There are also specific formats for reporting of these cases which are being circulated to all concerned. The cases are to be notified to the Local Public Authority of the State i.e, the State TB Officer and District TB Officers who will further follow up with the patients notified.
Clinical establishments, pharmacy, chemist and druggist, failing to notify a tuberculosis patient to the Nodal Officer and local Public authority health Staff of general health system or urban local bodies, and not taking appropriate public health action on receiving tuberculosis patient notification may attract the provisions of sections 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) as the case maybe.
Section 269 covers negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and says “whoever unlawfully or negligently does not act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.”
Section 270 covers malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and states that violators “ shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years , or with fine, or with both.”
The Revised National TB Control Programme Nagaland has meanwhile appealed to all private health care establishments, private practitioners, pharmacies, druggists etc to extend their support to the initiatives that are being undertaken so that every TB patient not only receives the due treatment and facilities wherever the patient wishes to, but that every patient is notified.
