GUWAHATI, Dec 17 - Dr R Bhuyan, State Director of Health Services today inaugurated a �Sensitization Workshop on CBNAAT for the North-East Zone� at Hotel D�Sapphire in the presence of representatives from the Central TB Division, Government of India, state programme officers of the north-eastern states, Revised National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme officers from the identified districts and other representatives from all the NE states.
In the inaugural session, Dr NJ Das, Joint Director (TB)/SPO, RNTCP, Assam welcomed the guests and participants.
The sensitisation workshop � a first-of-its-kind organised in the region � is being held with the objective to train the state trainers of the region on Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) endorsed by the World Health Organization to provide a sophisticated but easy diagnosis for TB and MDR-TB (Multi Drug Resistant) patients of the north-eastern states free of cost.
CBNAAT machines will be installed at different places of the region. In the first phase, CBNAAT machines will be installed at nine places of Assam, i.e. Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Nagaon and Barpeta.
�The CBNAAT test which is also known as Xpert MTB/RIF test is a cartridge-based fully automated NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test) for TB case detection and rifampicin (RIF, the most important drug of TB treatment)-resistance testing. From the patient management perspective, it provides results within two hours that enables same-day diagnosis and prompt treatment initiation,� a health official said.
Unlike the conventional Culture and Drug Sensitivity Test (C& DST), CBNAAT is the fastest compared to three days (72 hrs) in Line Probe Assay (LPA), 75 days (two and a half months) in Liquid Culture and DST (MGIT) and 120 days (four months) in solid culture and DST technology. The CBNAAT can detect TB bacteria at much lower concentrations; hence this test can be used to detect TB among paediatric and people living with HIV (PLHIV).
An MDR-TB patient is one who has developed resistance to first line anti-TB drugs, particularly to Isoniazid and Rifampicin, diagnosed in an RNTCP-accredited laboratory.
�Specific measures were being taken within the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) to address MDR-TB problem through appropriate management of patients and strategies to prevent the propagation and dissemination of MDR-TB. Inclusion of CBNAAT machine will accelerate diagnosis of TB/MDR patients, consequently enhancing TB control measures in the State,� the official said.
