Literacy workshop on Tuberculosis preventive therapy conducted
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 14 2021:
A State level Treatment Literacy Workshop on Tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT) was held at the conference hall of Community Network for Empowerment (CoNE) located at Keishamthong Hodam Leirak Machin, Sega Road on December 13.As per a press release by CoNE, the workshop has been organised with an aim to impart knowledge on the basics of TB preventive therapy (TPT) among people who inject drugs and people living with HIV, who are among people most susceptible to latent TB.
The program was organized by ARK Foundation, Nagaland in partnership with CoNE and supported by IMPAACT4TB Project-TAG and it was attended by 20 participants representing various community organisations, staff of TI NGOs and PLHIV network from different districts of the state.
Speaking as the resource person, CoNE President RK Nalinikanta covered topics on Global Burden of TB and TB/HIV, Understanding TB infection, Fundamentals of TB preventive therapy (TPT) and TPT for special populations.
RK Nalinikanta further informed that under the national TB program, Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) is being carried out as one of the TPT regimen, patients are provided isoniazid tablets which has to be taken every day for six, nine, 12, up to 36 months.
However, for people living with HIV, they have to take the medicine along with ARV on a daily basis.
This therapy is long in duration and also has side effects of liver toxicity.
Though this IPT regimen is effective, it is less user friendly and therefore the program has become an unpopular intervention in treating Latent TB infection (LTBI), he added.
He also informed about the new WHO approved TPT regimen namely 3HP, which is a combination of Isoniazid and Rifapentine which is safe and well tolerated is in the pipeline and can be safely prescribed to people who inject drugs living with HIV and other PLHIV as well since it pose less risk of hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity) than IPT, added the press release.