District DR-TB Centre

District Drug-resistant TB Centres (DDR-TBCs) are dedicated centres for providing DR-TB services for patients and can be established at the district or sub-district level. ​

• It may be established in institutes like medical colleges, district hospitals, TB hospitals and private or corporate institutes, trust hospitals or other sector hospitals, with the availability of required clinical expertise. ​
• There should be at least one DDR-TBC available in each district. However, more than one DDR-TBC can be established to improve the access and preference of patients to seek care. ​
• DDR-TBC can be established on an Outpatient Department (OPD) basis as well. ​
• Central TB Division (CTD) should be informed about the up-gradation of any institute to a DDR-TBC.​
• Requirements for infrastructure and Human Resources (HR) may be proposed in the annual Programme Implementation Plan (PIP). 

TB Services Available at the DDR-TB Centre

Pre-treatment Evaluation (PTE): Basic investigations required for initiating DR-TB regimens, examples include:

• Complete Blood Count (CBC)
• Thyroid-stimulating Hormone (TSH) tests
• Renal function tests
• Liver function tests
• Electrocardiogram, etc.

Treatment Services: Trained experts can initiate all DR-TB regimens at the DDR-TBC.

Resources

• Guidelines for Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB in India, 2021.