R. Rajeswari et al., STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF INVOLVING MALE STUDENT VOLUNTEERS IN CASEHOLDING IN AN URBAN TUBERCULOSIS PROGRAM, The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease, 1(6), 1997, pp. 573-575
This paper reports the feasibility of involving unpaid National Servic
e Scheme (NSS) male student volunteers in a city-based tuberculosis (T
B) programme in supplying drugs and retrieving non-compliant TB patien
ts. Twenty-five students were selected after assessing their attitude
and were trained on TB drug delivery, home visits and motivation of no
n-compliant patients. Twenty-three sputum positive patients identified
in a medical camp were started on an 8-month short-course chemotherap
y regimen. Students supplied the drugs on a weekly basis and defaulter
s were visited. The treatment completion rate was 83% and defaulter re
trieval was 57%. All patients had sputum smear conversion by 2 months
and one relapsed during the 24-month follow-up.