World Health Organisation (WHO) figures show that India is home to 3.4 million tuberculosis patients. Some 325,000 patients die from tuberculosis each year in the country. In such a scenario, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is indeed a huge problem.

The WHO says that at least 17 percent of TB patients are now suffering from MDR-TB. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) is a rare type of tuberculosis that is not treatable by any available drugs against the disease.

Basically Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease caused by bacteria that spread from person to person through the air. The organs most affected are the lungs although kidneys, bones and the stomach are also affected. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) is resistant to the most powerful first-line and second-line drugs used for treating tuberculosis.

Around 1.6 million people succumb to tuberculosis annually. The situation is particularly worse in Africa where drug resistance is at an all time high.

According to information available on the WHO website, a program called DOTS-Plus was initiated in 1998.

In 1999, WHO established the Working Group on DOTS-Plus for MDR-TB. The aims of the working group are to approve, conduct, and oversee pilot projects based on the Guidelines for Establishing DOTS-Plus Pilot Projects for the Management of MDR-TB prepared by the Scientific Panel of the Working Group.

The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) is proving to be a boon in handling Tuberculosis in India. However cases do continue to sprout up regularly. One more issue is the prevalence of HIV along with TB.

On World TB Day today, March 24, the WHO has called on countries to strengthen public health programs. "We need to fully tap the potential of other service providers. Enlisting these other providers, working in partnership with national programmes, will markedly increase diagnosis and treatment for people in need," said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General.