Medical Colleges and NTEP

Medical colleges in the country are integrated with the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) to widen access and improve the quality of TB services. Medical colleges provide specialized services for seriously ill TB patients.

The integration of medical colleges in the program is in a structured task force mechanism at different levels:

• National
• Zonal
• State  

One national and six zonal task forces have been formed under the programme along with task forces for all states. A core committee is also formed in each medical college. These task forces are created with defined roles and responsibilities for the effective involvement of medical colleges in the programme.

Core Committee

Every medical college will have core committees representing various hospital departments and NTEP nodal officers. These committees meet quarterly and review the implementation of the program in the medical college.

Functions of the core committee:

• They organise sensitisation workshops and training for faculty members, postgraduates, undergraduates, interns, paramedical staff, etc. ​
• Ensure that teachings on TB/ NTEP form part of the curriculum for all medical colleges.
• Coordinate between various departments so that patients get the services under one roof.
• Coordinate with the district TB programme. ​

​Role of Medical College in NTEP

1. Medical colleges coordinate with the district TB programme for participation in quality assurance, supervision, monitoring, review and evaluation.
2. Operational research is one of the important activities of medical colleges. 
3. Every medical college should have TB detection facility and treatment support centres. These centres are equipped with trained additional human resources such as medical officers, laboratory technicians and TB health visitors.
4. The National Medical Commission insists that all Medical Colleges should also have facilities to manage DR-TB patients.
5. Medical colleges undertake advocacy for the programme.
6. Medical colleges also functions as peripheral health institutes (PHI), maintain TB notification registers and submit monthly PHI reports​: They have Nikshay user access and need to enter TB-related data on a real-time basis. 

Resources

RNTCP Technical and Operational Guidelines for Tuberculosis Control in India, 2016.

Assessment