M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Dec 21: India Post is set to collaborate with the state health department in the fight against Tuberculosis (TB) in Jharkhand.
The talks of MoU between the state health department and India Post are at the final stage if the versions of the Palamu district TB officer Dr Anil Kumar Srivastava and WHO Consultant for TB and drug-resistant TB Dr Rajiv Ranjan Pathak are to be believed.
Dr Anil Kumar Srivastava said, “Following India Post coming to us in the fight against TB here in Palamu, we held training for the Sahiyas on how to collect the sputum for test and how the community health officer will follow it up for postal delivery to the designated microscopic centres.”
“We were told by the higher-ups in the state health department Ranchi about an imminent MoU with the India Post during a recent video conferencing in the context of the elimination of TB wherein I was online present in this video conferencing. It is just a matter of time before this MoU is reached between the state health department and India Post as we were assured about it in the same video conferencing,” he added.
Dr Rajiv Ranjan Pathak also corroborated the version of Dr Srivastava saying a similar and identical version about India Post in the TB fight. He said he too was privy to this pact going to be done between the state health department and India Post.
The WHO Consultant even said the officials had discussions at length about the nitty gritty of the pact with the India Post which is very much in the offing.
How will India Post help in TB elimination?
India Post will deliver the sealed and protected specimen of sputum of a suspected case of TB to the designated microscopic centres (DMC) spread in the districts. There would be two sealed and protected specimens of sputum which India Post will deliver to the DMC.
If the sputum tests negative then there is no further work to be done by India Post but in the event of sputum testing positive for TB drug resistance etc then in that event, the India Post is to deliver it to higher centre TB Sanatorium in Ranchi for more specialised microscopic test etc and redressal measures.
The community health officer is to ensure smooth handing over of the sputum samples to the India Post and its furtherance. All TB sputum test deliveries are to be completed by India Post in 72 hours otherwise they are to be discarded.
On being asked as to why this arrangement as India Post has a poor track record of delivery of even of its Speed Post, parcel, both Dr Srivastava and Dr Pathak declined to make any comment.
“There is always a hope at the end of the tunnel. Reaching samples of sputum of TB test at the DMC is a challenge and India Post can be a big help to it,” the two opined.
The community health officer (CHO) will be coordinating with Sahiya and India Post in matter of collection of samples of sputum to be done by Sahiya alone and then CHO will be handing the the sealed and protected specimen of sputum to the India Post for the delivery at first instance at the DMC.
“There are 80 functional health and wellness centres in Palamu and each of the centre has one CHO,” said Dr Anil Kumar Srivastava. He added that there are 22 designated microscopic centres in Palamu which cater to 80 functional health and wellness centres.
