Docs, pharmacists not reporting TB cases can get up to 2 year jail term
NEW DELHI: Not reporting a tuberculosis (TB) case can now land doctors, healthcare workers and even pharmacists in prison for up to two years, with the Union health ministry publishing a gazette notification on Tuesday in this regard.
“Those failing to report… may attract the provisions of sections 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” it reads.
Section 270 of the IPC deals with a malignant act likely to spread an infectious disease dangerous to life and can land a person in jail for up to two years, or with a fine, or both. Section 269 deals with negligence likely to spread the infection of disease dangerous to life and is punishable with imprisonment up to six months, or a fine, or both.
Doctors, healthcare workers and pharmacists can report cases to a local public health authority. The government is in the process of introducing a web portal for filing reports securely.
“Now that the focus is on elimination of TB by 2025, it is important to track down every single case and put them on right treatment. This is the first time we have invoked IPC sections...” said Arun Jha, economic advisor, Union health ministry.
The World Health Organisation’s TB Report-2017 stated that India — with 27.9 lakh cases, 4.23 lakh deaths, and an average of 211 new infections diagnosed per 100,000 people — has the highest number of TB patients in the world. It was made a notifiable disease in 2012, however, inadequate reporting remains a challenge for the government.
“The unregulated private sector is our biggest challenge as many don’t notify cases or follow the standard TB treatment protocol. Nearly 60% patients go to the private sector for treatment before approaching the public sector, which makes tracking cases difficult,” said a heath ministry official in the know of things.
Elimination, defined as restricting new infections to less than one case per 100,000 people, is possible only if patients get diagnosed and cured without any break in treatment.