The state health department, headed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee is flooded with complaints on quality and standard of Tuberculosis (TB) medicines supplied by the central government under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), Anti-TB Drug Regimen Category DSTB –IP (A). Considering the quality and standard of the medicines given to more than 1,10, 000 TB patients across Bengal, doctors have lodged complaints with senior officials dealing with TB control and prevention programmes at Swasthya Bhaban, recently.

The doctors associated both in government and private healthcare services have urged the health department to take necessary measures verifying the standard of the TB medicines as early as possible at the backdrop against when the central government has decided to eliminate the bacterial disease from the country by 2025.

A government medical officer TB control (MOTC) has written to the state TB officer (STO) recently expressing deep concern over the quality of medicines requesting the latter to take immediate action on the matter. “After opening packs, we found TB tablets getting crushed like dust. It may lead to treatment failure of patients if these drugs are given to them.

TB patients whom I treat are also complaining to us,” the MOTC said requesting anonymity. A senior official in the health department has admitted the fact on the quality and standard of TB drugs given to patients free of costs.

“We can’t comment whether the drugs are substandard without getting any test report on the quality of several samples of these items of a particular batch number. We have informed the matter to the Union health ministry seeking their intervention immediately. Now, it is up to the ministry whether they will send samples of TB drugs carrying specific batch numbers to their laboratory for testing,” the official said.

“We can’t take a decision to suspend distributions of TB medicines among patients without the health ministry’s green signal. There is no communication from the ministry to us so far. We have to wait for them,” he added requesting anonymity. “Hardly, two months ago, the health ministry directed us not to distribute TB medicines of a separate batch number among patients in our state because of low quality. Now, the same complaints of sub-standard quality of TB medicines of another batch number are coming to us from MOTCs.

Apart from sensitizing the health ministry in Delhi, we have also directed district TB officers (DTO) across the state to check the storage system of these medicines because scorching heat might have also damaged them,” he added.