Role of the Senior DR-TB/TB-HIV Supervisor in diagnostic centres

The district Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) HIV coordinator coordinates the diagnosis and treatment of DR-TB patients with the diagnostic facility, treatment facility (District DR-TB Centre (DDR-TBC)) and Peripheral Health Institute (PHI).

Their roles in the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) in TB diagnostic facilities are the following:

• Coordinate to ensure that Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) and first-line Line Probe Assay (LPA) are done/sent for all diagnosed TB cases
• Coordinate with Senior Treatment Supervisor (STS)/ Senior TB Lab Supervisor (STLS) to ensure that for all DR-TB  cases follow-up sputum samples are tested/ sent for testing
• See whether treatment initiation/ necessary actions are taken against the results of all DR-TB cases
• Ensure that diagnosed  TB  cases are referred for HIV testing
• Ensure that  all the data is entered in Ni-kshay and check the accuracy of the data 

At the Integrated Counselling and Treatment Centre (ICTC) ensure that the following activities are done in coordination with ICTC staff and NTEP staff.

• Coordinate to see whether the patient referred from NTEP diagnostic facilities has reached ICTC 
• Screen all the clients attending the ICTC for symptoms of TB
• Ensure that the presumptive TB cases are referred for TB diagnosis
• Check whether the HIV TB line list and HIV TB registers are updated and the data is entered in Ni-kshay
• Ensure that Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) is started for all eligible People Living with HIV (PLHIV)

Resources

• Guidelines for Programmatic Management of  Drug-resistant Tuberculosis in India, NTEP, CTD, MoHFW, GoI, 2021.
• TOR and Need Norms of NTEP Contractual Staff, CTD, NTEP, 2021.

Assessment