4K TB patients discontinued treatment in six years: RTI
MUMBAI: In the last six years, 4,411 tuberculosis patients discontinued their treatment at the Group of TB Hospitals, Sewri —Asia’s largest treatment facility for tuberculosis, according to response to a Right To Information (RTI) query.
Experts say depression, loneliness and lack of family support are major causes for patients discontinuing treatment. Lack of counsellors at the facility was another reason.
Dr Lalitkumar Anande, medical superintendent of the hospital, cited lack of family support and depression as two major causes behind the dropout rate of patients. According to figures obtained from the Group of TB Hospitals, there is only one counsellor for 125-130 patients against the required ratio of 1:20. Between 2013 and 2018, 798 patients left treatment and 3,613 took Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) from the hospital.
Among the 4,411 patients who left the treatment, 2,811 were men and 1,600 were women. Five patients were also abandoned by their families during their treatment. Activist Chetan Kothari got the statistics through an RTI application. “Patients request DAMA mostly because they are dissatisfied with the quality of treatment,” said Kothari. State public health officials said they have tied up with TISS for addressing the issue of shortage of counsellors.