Effectiveness of community-based angan-wari workers in the directly observed treatment of tuberculosis patients in a rural area of Haryana.

ABSTRACT

Setting – A Tuberculosis Unit (TU) with a population of 600,000 in Gurgaon district, Haryana. Objective - To compare the treatment success rate among TB patients taking DOT from community-based Angan-wari workers (AWWs) with that of TB patients with other DOT providers. Design - AWWs were given a two-day modular training, included in the local DOT directory and were directly supervised by the TB Programme staff. From the TB register held at the TU, treatment outcomes of all new sputum positive (NSP) patients registered in Gurgaon TU from 1st January to 31st December 2002, were evaluated. Results - During 2002, AWWs observed the treatment of 115 (11%) patients in the TU. The cure rate amongst the 41 NSP patients, who had AWWs as DOT providers, was significantly better than for those who had other DOT providers (95% vs. 78%) respectively (p=0.02). Conclusion - Community-based Angan-wari workers, with adequate training and regular supervision, can contribute effectively to a TB programme as DOT providers.