DR-TB Service Referral Linkages Scenario 3: DR-TB Patient Referred for Treatment from the Private Sector with Bacteriological Confirmation in the Private Sector

Many times, Drug-resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) patients diagnosed in the private sector will wish to avail services from the public sector. 

The National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) strongly recommends bacteriological confirmation of any DR-TB patient before initiation of treatment and discourages any empirical treatment. 

Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST) results available from private laboratories for such patients will be considered acceptable under the following situations: 

• Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) results from labs that regularly undertake annual calibration of machines and/or are a part of the External Quality Assurance (EQA) mechanism of quality assurance under NTEP.
• Culture and Drug Susceptibility Test (C&DST) labs that participate in the annual proficiency testing through National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) under NTEP for the respective DST technology. 

For patients who do not have results in accordance with the above, DST would be offered under NTEP as per the updated integrated DR-TB algorithm.

Resources

• Guidelines for Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB in India, 2021.

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