THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 31, 2016- Topic 1
Pushed to a corner owing to lack of
political will on the part of countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, the World Health
Organisation has called for the
first United Nations General Assembly session on the disease. The fight against
TB cannot be won as long as the high-burden countries, particularly India which
has the highest TB burden in the world, do not galvanise their government
machinery effectively. While the number of deaths caused by TB and the
incidence rate had been consistently dropping from the historical highs
globally, there has been a recent uptick that is much larger than previously
estimated. The primary reason is the sharp increase in the incidence
estimate from India — from
2.2 million cases in 2014 to 2.8 million in 2015. Ironically, the revised
disease burden estimate for India is an “interim” one; the actual burden, which
could be much higher, will be known only when the national TB prevalence survey
that is scheduled to begin next year is completed. The number of estimated
deaths caused by TB more than doubled from 220,000 in 2014 to 483,000 in 2015.
As in the case of incidence, the revised estimate for deaths could also be an
underestimation.
The increase in incidence owes to a 34
per cent rise in case notifications by health-care providers in the private
sector between 2013 and 2015. Yet, in 2015 notifications by doctors in the
private sector comprised only 16 per cent of the total. Though notification was
made mandatory in 2012, only 1.7 million incident TB cases in the public and
private sectors were notified in 2015. Thus the fate of 1.1 million patients is
simply not known: they have fallen off the radar. For an effective fight
against TB, the control programme needs to be aware of every single patient
diagnosed, and offer treatment to all. If there are only about 50 per cent of
the patients approaching the private sector who successfully complete
treatment, a recent study has shown that in 2013 only about 65 per cent of the
1.9 million who approached the public sector completed the treatment regime.
The crisis has been aggravated with the disease becoming more expensive and
difficult to treat and the number of people with drug-resistant forms
increasing. The national TB control programme is behind schedule with respect
to critical programmes including the expansion of the GeneXpert pilot
programme, scaling up of drug sensitivity testing, and the introduction of a
child-friendly paediatric TB drug. Only sustained action on several fronts can
help bring TB under check. The global war will not be successful till India
wins the battle within its own boundaries first.
Vocabulary
Owing: have an obligation to pay or repay (something, especially money) in return
for something received.
Example: They have denied they owe money to the company
Synonyms: be in debt to, be indebted to, be in arrears to, be
under an obligation to
Galvanise: shock or excite (someone), typically into taking action.
Example: The urgency of his voice galvanized them into action
Synonyms: jolt, shock, startle, impel, stir, spur, prod, urge, motivate
Uptick: a small increase.
Example: The company's prosperity isn't coming from an uptick in demand for
information technology.
Prevalence: the fact or condition of being prevalent; commonness.
Example: The prevalence of obesity in adults
Synonyms: commonness, currency, generality, popularity
Regime: a system or planned way of doing things, especially one imposed from above.
Example: Detention centers with a very tough physical regime
Synonyms: system, arrangement, order, pattern, method, procedure, routine, course
