From the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics: Do we need notification of tuberculosis? A public health perspective

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23439202

Indian J Med Ethics. 2013 Jan-Mar;10(1):56-8.

Do we need notification of tuberculosis? A public health perspective.

Gawde N.

Source

Assistant Professor, Centre for Public Health, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Sion-Trombay Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088 INDIA e-mail: nilesh.gawde@tiss.edu.

Abstract

Several instances of tuberculosis (TB) resistant to most drugs were reported in Mumbai in January 2012. Eventually, the Government of India declared TB to be a notifiable disease. This paper looks at the utility of notification and the ethical issues posed by it from a public health practice perspective. The paper argues that notification of TB in the absence of regulation of diagnostic practices, rational use of anti-TB medicines and availability of diagnostic and treatment facilities for drug-resistant TB will pose more ethical problems rather than provide solutions by way of adequate and rational treatment to patients.