AIMS-NTEP

AIMS And Objectives of the NTEP Core Committee in AIMS

To widen access and improving the quality of TB services, involvement of medical colleges and their hospitals is of paramount importance. The current mechanism of their involvement through structured task forces at National, Zonal and State levels will be continued during the NSP period. The role of the task forces will continue to be as it is. The main role of the NTF will be to recommend policy suggestion regarding medical colleges’ involvement in the RNTCP and monitor the activities of the ZTF.

The ZTF will facilitate the establishment, functioning, and monitoring of State Task Forces (STF), and coordinate between the NTF and STF. The STF will facilitate establishment of DMCs and DOT centres, in all the medical colleges in the respective States. Scope of activities of medical colleges are going to be expanded with increasing diagnostic and treatment services in newer areas of TB control efforts. This will include following:

1. Centers of excellence (COEs): Select medical colleges will be designated COE for a particular thematic area of the programme on the lines of AIIMS being designated a COE for extra pulmonary TB.
2. Decentralized drug resistant TB services: DR-TB wards will be expanded to more number of medical colleges to support district level DR-TB treatment services. These DR-TB centres in medical colleges will be useful for management of not only MDR-TB but, for DST-guided treatment, newer regimen use and management of complicated cases of drug resistant TB. Existing staff of medical college i.e. medical officer and TB-HV will be utilized for these DR-TB 72 wards for coordination with the programme and DTC data entry operator will support e communications and for MIS operations.
3. Culture service support: With follow up of drug sensitive TB patients with culture at the end of treatment and post treatment follow up with culture for all TB patients, additional capacity of laboratories with culture facilities will be needed. To support this strategy, the programme will engage medical colleges to expand its microbiology laboratory for RNTCP. The programme will support identify and support these microbiology laboratories through existing HR and infrastructural norms for culture laboratories.
4. Air borne infection control measures in health care facilities in districts: Under the air borne infection control committee of the districts, medical college faculties will be involved to execute AIC measure in all health care settings in the district. The faculties from medical colleges will be trained at the state level and then support in assessment, recommendations and monitoring of AIC implementation in all health facilities in the districts.
5. Planning, surveillance and quality improvement support to districts: Faculties of medical colleges will be involved in planning of RNTCP services and subsequent monitoring and evaluation. The department of community medicine will be involved to in monitoring and surveillance of disease including carrying out local surveys. For quality assurance of laboratory services, the department of microbiology will be involved and appropriate capacity enhancement will be done.
6. Private provider engagement: Support of medical colleges will be sought for peer education, dissemination of diagnostic and treatment practices and advocacy with professional associations.
7. Research: Operational Research mechanisms will be strengthened. Uniform systems of protocol development and capacity building workshop will be implemented. An online system of protocol submission, protocol review, approvals and quick release of funds will be established.

NTEP – AIMS Core Committee members