title: Private practitioners' contributions to the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme in a South Indian district.
abstract: METHODS
  Tumkur District, South India.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the participation of for-profit, formal private practitioners (PPs) under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme's (RNTCP's) public-private mix (PPM) schemes and document their contribution to RNTCP pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) case finding.
  
  
  METHODS
  RNTCP reports at district TB centre were reviewed. PPs were mapped and their referrals of presumptive TB cases to the RNTCP during 2011 were assessed using laboratory registers at designated microscopy centres (DMCs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of the 424 PPs had signed up for any PPM scheme. However, 22% made at least one referral to a DMC in 2011. PP referrals constituted 15% of the presumptive TB cases examined at the DMCs, and PPs contributed to 23% of the sputum smear-positive TB cases detected. Among PP referrals, the proportion of confirmed smear-positive cases was high (24%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fifteen years after the start of PPM, formal engagement of PPs with RNTCP was non-existent. However, PPs do refer cases to the RNTCP and contribute to a fraction of TB case detection. The high proportion of confirmed sputum smear-positive cases suggests that PPs tend to make selective referrals. More efforts are needed to promote the engagement of PPs in the RNTCP.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Bangalore, India; Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yellappa
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Battaglioli
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Family Welfare, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gurum
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van der Stuyft
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D000070516:Intersectoral Collaboration; D008853:Microscopy; D009313:National Health Programs; D010819:Physician's Role; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011331:Private Practice; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*