Role of laboratory in RNTCP

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem in many parts of the world. Sputum smear microscopy is the mainstay of diagnosis of TB. RNTCP follows the international guidelines which recommend the establishment of microscopy centre for every 100,000 population. All patients with a cough of three weeks or more should undergo 3 sputum diagnostic examinations for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). A separate TB laboratory register is maintained in each microscopy centre. Disposal of laboratory waste should be destroyed. One slide from each patient is sent to the District TB Centre (DTC) for external quality assurance (EQA). The activities of the microscopy centres in a TB unit are supervised by a Senior TB Laboratory Supervisor (STLS). The STLS visits every microscopy centre at least once a month. Sputum samples from patients who fail RNTCP treatment are sent to the nearest reference laboratory for culture of M. tuberculosis and drug susceptibility testing; however there is no need to send patient samples routinely for culture.