New Delhi, Sep 20: The India Post will now help tuberculosis patients to transport sputum from their doorstep to government approved testing laboratories with its services. In a bid to utilise the services of the postal department, the Health Ministry has launched a pilot project for transport of sputum specimen for diagnosis of tuberculosis. The initiative has been launched because a significant number of TB patients cannot get their sputum, a mixture of saliva and mucus coughed up from the respiratory tract, tested because the specimen due to non-availability of specimen transport mechanisms, an official statement said.

The prompt transport of specimen followed by efficacious testing will enable appropriate management of the TB patients and reduced disease transmission. If a proper transport mechanism for the collected specimen is in place, it spares the patients from travelling to the laboratory.

The project was launched at Karawal Nagar in the national capital on Wednesday. Reports inform that if the pilot project here turns out to be a success then specimen transport mechanism through the postal department can be adopted across the country. Has India Failed at Tackling Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis?

During the event, a web-based application of RNTCP, Nikshay Version 2.0 with the better user interface and data structures, was also launched. It must be noted that the mobile app for all major functions on Nikshay, is available on Google Play for download. The web application is also designed to be mobile friendly, enabling data entry also from the mobile browser.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2018 10:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).