"Patients will be given fixed drug combinations, three or four drugs in a single pill, as against seven tablets, which will reduce the pill burden. Besides, dosage will be determined according to the patient's body weight. Previously, it was same for all adults," a health ministry official said.Also, children suffering from tuberculosis won't have to take the bitter tablets anymore as they will be replaced with easily-dissolvable and flavoured drugs, he said.Since 1997, under the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP), patients were being administered drugs thrice a week.According to the official, daily treatment regimen is likely to be more effective with lesser relapses. "This is expected to reduce drug resistance with greater compliance. "The World Health Organisation revised its TB management guidelines in 2010, recommending that the daily drug regimen be adopted under the RNTCP.According to a health ministry data, the TB incidence was estimated to be 217 per lakh population in 2015.

Source: Times of India November 17, 2017 15:00 UTC