About Us

Our Vision

Sri Lanka free of Tuberculosis & other chest diseases

Our Mission

To contribute to the socio economic development of the nation by committing ourselves to create a TB free Sri Lanka by formulation of policies, planning, coordinating and monitoring of TB and chest diseases control activities in the country

History

Tuberculosis Commission was established in 1910 as a pioneer step in tuberculosis control and that lead to a methodical approaches in control activities. TB has made a Notifiable in a restricted scale in the Colombo city in the same year. In 1916.TB detection centre was established in Pettah, Colombo. Inward facilities for TB patients were established in 1917 at Ragama Hospital, in 1919 at Kandana and In 1930 at Kankasanturei Hospitals. Reporting of TB deaths has been made compulsory in 1925. During the Second World War, Walisara Hospital has been converted to a military hospital for soldiers with infectious diseases. After the war, in 1946. it was designated as a TB Hospital The Anti TB Campaign was established in 1945. Pulmonary TB has made notifiable in 1948 and in 1956 Central Notification Act was passed making TB notification compulsory. BCG vaccination was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1949. Special TB wards were established in several hospitals in the country in 1953 and fully equipped laboratory was established in VVelisara. IN 1954. special training school for nurses engaged in TB control activities was established in Websara. In 1960 TB control programme was incorporated in to public health services and by year 1972 TB control activities were implemented island wide.
In 1989 TB control programme was renamed as Respiratory Disease Control Programme (RDCP). The DOTS strategy was introduced in 1995. RDCP was again renamed as National Programme for Tuberculosis control and Chest Diseases in 2001. In 2005. Slandered Treatment Regimen was introduced and the drugs were provided by the Global centre for Drug Supply free of charge. With the end of the civil conflict and establishment of peace and order in the country. it was able to expand the services island wide in uniform basis throughout the country. Construction of the new sputum culture laboratory in Kandy was started in 2010. With the establishment of chest clinics in Kilinochchi and Mulathieu, it was able to implement DOTS island wide. DOT centers were opened in three private health institutions and sputum microscopy services of these institutions were brought under quality control of the NTRL E based Patient Information Management system was established in all districts in 2012, which enabled central unit to get access to the information regarding patient management. Drug situation and service provision timely. Provincial culture laboratory network was further strengthened and New culture Laboratory was opened in Rathnapura in year 2012.

National Policy

Notification of all tuberculosis patients
Provision of treatment, free of charge to all patients diagnosed with tuberculosis according to National Policy guidelines.
Registration of all the tuberculosis patients in District Chest Clinics
Provision of free sputum microscopy services to all tuberculosis patients
Provision of DOTS throughout the whole period of treatment.

Our Objectives

To ensure that every patient with tuberculosis or a respiratory disease has access to effective diagnosis, treatment, cure and rehabilitation.
To interrupt the transmission of tuberculosis.
To prevent the emergence of drug resistance.
To reduce the social and economic toll caused by tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.

Our Targets

95% reduction in tuberculosis deaths (compared with 2015)
90% reduction in tuberculosis incidence rate (less than 10 tuberculosis cases per 100,000 population)

– No affected families facing catastrophic costs due to tuberculosis

Director’s Message

Tuberculosis is a global pandemic. The WHO estimates 9.9 million persons acquired the TB infection in 2020 which is in other words 127 per 100,000 population. Global deaths among patients with TB exceeds 1.2 million. The disease is more complicated with TB HIV co infection, rising non communicable diseases and emerging drug resistance. The emerging pandemics, environment changes and dynamic socioeconomic state significantly influence disease behavior and how preventive and control strategies shall behave.

Sri Lanka, being a low burden country with TB, still needs to pay much attention due to its geographical location, trade, and commerce and as a popular destination for tourism. Having a low prevalence and death rate among TB patients and the gap between the estimated and diagnosed persons are core background to find effective strategies in disease control activities.

The National Programme for Tuberculosis Control and Chest Disease (NPTCCD) is the focal point to develop, implement, and monitor national level TB control and preventive activities in Sri Lanka. The directorate works closely with relevant ministerial units, other state and private sectors and community entities and collaborates with the WHO and the Global Fund to reach the End TB targets set by the WHO. These activities aim at improving case detection, reduce the number of TB deaths and catastrophic costs incurred on patients with TB. The NPTCCD understands and commit to work identifying the TB control activities nationally to meet the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The district level TB control activities are conducted through the District Chest Clinics (DCCs) covering all 26 districts in the country. Case detection through clinical assessment, screening and microbiological and radiological testing facilities are provided by every district clinic for free of charge. The Provision of anti TB drugs to patients referred from state sector as well as private sector are provided free of charge through the national programme. The NPTCCD has taken steps to improve diagnostic facilities incorporating the latest technology (molecular diagnostics and Drug Resistance testing) so that the quality of care will be improved. We work closely with relevant professional colleges to develop guidelines, implement standard treatment policies to improve quality of care and ensure optimum and sustainable care bundle is delivered to patients according to national and internationally standards.

Ending TB is a challenging but achievable goal for Sri Lanka. We appreciate the continuous commitment rendered by every stakeholder involve towards this goal. We highly appreciate the commitment made by patients and their relatives who came forward to comply with treatment and collaborate to reduce the stigma associated with the disease.

I look forward and welcome your active engagement to reach the End TB targets and experience the positive outcomes in health, socio-economic and community standards.

Dr. R. Pramitha Shanthilatha – Director, NPTCCD