There is no policy in India for tuberculosis control and the centrally-run Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme has neither mandate nor agenda for TB control. There are short, medium and long term remedies for the maladies of the revised programme which are detailed in this article. TB is both a biomedical and a social, cultural and economic problem. Citizens must demand a national policy for TB control.
T Jacob John (tjacobjohn@yahoo.co.in) retired as professor and head of the department of clinical virology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. He chaired the India Expert Advisory Group on Polio Eradication and co-chaired the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation from 2000 to 2009.
Please click here to access.