India to roll out BPaL Regimen for Drug-Resistant TB

Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy

India to roll out BPaL Regimen for Drug-Resistant TB

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: BPaL Regimen

Why in the News?

India is preparing to introduce the BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid) regimen for all patients with multi/extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB).

What is BPaL Regimen?

	Details
Purpose	Treatment for *multi-drug resistant (MDR)* and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB). Provides a potent, shorter, and more effective treatment option for patients resistant to standard TB drugs.
Components of the regimen	Bedaquiline (Bdq): Targets ATP synthase enzyme in *Mycobacterium tuberculosis, disrupting energy production. Key drug in combating drug-resistant TB.*
	Pretomanid (Pa): Inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis and kills bacteria under anaerobic conditions. Enhances effectiveness when *combined with other TB drugs.*
	Linezolid (Lzd): Inhibits protein synthesis, stopping bacterial growth. Effective against MDR and XDR TB strains.

Significance of BPaL Regimen

Studies and trials have shown that the BPaL regimen has higher success rates in treating MDR and XDR TB compared to older regimens.
It reduces treatment duration for MDR/XDR-TB from the traditional 18-24 months to 6 months approx.
It is entirely oral with NO injectable, making it easier for patients to adhere to the treatment.
It reduces number of drugs patients need to take daily from up to 14 to just 3.

PYQ:

[2014] Can overuse and free availability of antibiotics without Doctor’s prescription, be contributors to the emergence of drug-resistant diseases in India? What are the available mechanisms for monitoring and control? Critically discuss the various issues involved.

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