TB CONTROL PROGRAMME

The objective of the TB Control Programme is to assist the Uttarakhand State Government in the control –detection, treatment and prevention – of TB.

RAPHAEL is a government designated Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) Centre. Its TB Control Programme is run in accordance with guidelines laid down in the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP).

Its facilities include a 20 (12 male; 8 female) bed hospital; an Out-patient Department; and a clinical laboratory capable of the full range of investigations for TB. Patients detected with TB are registered and given a unique NIKSHAY Identity Number. Those who are able to return to their homes are provided with a ‘referral’ & free medication for a limited period. They are then instructed to report to their local DOTS centre to continue with their treatment in accordance with the RNTCP. Only those patients suffering from acute tubercular infection & ‘shared symptoms’ and deemed unfit to travel are admitted in the hospital. They are discharged with a referral & medication only after their general condition improves. It is this latter ‘in-patient’ facility that makes RAPHAEL’s TB control programme unique.

Whereas medicines for the treatment of TB are provided by the district medical authorities free of cost the expenditure incurred on supportive treatment (including meals) of patients admitted to the hospital is borne by RAPHAEL.

LIFELONG CARE PROGRAMME

The objective of the Life-long Care Programme is to provide a life of dignity to persons with disability.

The Life-long Care Programme is a legacy of the past. When RAPHAEL first started it began by caring for Leprosy Cured Patients rescued off the streets. Over the years, the civil administration has found it convenient to entrust RAPHAEL with the care of other persons with disabilities who have nowhere to go.