title: Do we need notification of tuberculosis? A public health perspective.
abstract: Several instances of tuberculosis (TB) resistant to most drugs were reported in Mumbai in January 2012. Eventually, the Government of India declared TB to be a notifiable disease. This paper looks at the utility of notification and the ethical issues posed by it from a public health practice perspective. The paper argues that notification of TB in the absence of regulation of diagnostic practices, rational use of anti-TB medicines and availability of diagnostic and treatment facilities for drug-resistant TB will pose more ethical problems rather than provide solutions by way of adequate and rational treatment to patients.
authors: Assistant Professor, Centre for Public Health, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Sion-Trombay Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400 088 INDIA e-mail: nilesh.gawde@tiss.edu.
authors: Nilesh
authors: N
authors: Gawde
mesh_terms: D018563:Disease Notification; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000517:prevention & control*