India’s Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP)

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading cause of death in India, which bears nearly 20 per cent of the global burden. In 1992, a review of the TB control programme identified frequent shortages of drugs and inadequate staff and budget as some of the reasons for poor case detection and treatment completion rates. Since 1993, India has revised the programme with the assistance from the World Bank, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and bilateral donors. This article makes an attempt to review the relationship between the TB control experience and external aid for TB control over a period in India. Expenditures by the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) had increased considerably from US$ 36 million in 2002 to US$ 67 million in 2008 and according to the WHO, in Global TB Control Report for 2008 there were no funding gaps reported for TB control since year 2002. More funding came from grants and a World Bank loan. By March 2006, 100 per cent of the population had been covered under RNTCP. Since the inception of RNTCP more than 8 million patients have been initiated on treatment with the treatment success rate of 86 per cent. This suggests that having a committed programme with good funding has helped in improving the performance of the TB control programme.