Health Ministry approves introduction of new shorter, more efficacious treatment regimen for drug-resistant TB in India

New Delhi [India], September 6 : Under the vision of the Prime Minister to rid the country of TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target for eliminating the disease under the Sustainable Development Goals, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has approved the introduction of the BPaLM regimen, an official statement said.
The BPaLM regimen is a novel treatment for multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) under its National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) as a highly effective and shorter treatment option.
This regimen includes a new anti-TB drug, namely Pretomanid, in combination with Bedaquiline & Linezolid (with/without Moxifloxacin). Pretomanid has earlier been approved and licenced for use in India by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the statement added.
The BPaLM regimen, which consists of four drug combinations--Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid, and Moxifloxacin--has been proven to be safe, more effective, and a quicker treatment option than the previous MDR-TB treatment procedure.
According to the statement, while traditional MDR-TB treatments can last up to 20 months with severe side effects, the BPaLM regimen can cure the drug-resistant TB in just six months with a high treatment success rate. India's 75,000 drug-resistant TB patients will now be able to avail benefit of this shorter regimen. With the other advantages, there will be an overall saving in cost.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare, in consultation with the Department of Health Research, ensured validation of this new TB treatment regimen that witnessed a thorough review of evidence by in-country subject experts.
Department of Health and Family Welfare has also got a Health Technology Assessment done through the Department of Health Research to ensure that this MDR-TB treatment option is safe and cost effective.
This move by the Government of India is expected to significantly boost the country's progress to achieve its national goal of ending TB. A country-wide time-bound rollout plan of the BPaLM regimen is being prepared by the Central TB Division of the MoHFW in consultation with States/UTs, which includes rigorous capacity building of health professionals for safe administration of the new regimen, the statement added.
The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), previously known as Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), aims to strategically reduce TB burden in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals. This vision was first articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Delhi End TB Summit in March 2018.