Feasibility of involving literate tribal youths in XXXX case-finding in a tribal area in Tamil Nadu.

@entity1 @entity378 @entity1907
SETTING: Tribal area in South India with a population of 96,000, where the @entity378 case-finding activity was very poor. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the feasibility of (1) involving literate (who can read and write) tribal youth volunteers for detecting cases of @entity1907 ( @entity1907 ) in their respective hamlets; and (2) antituberculosis drug delivery to sputum-positive @entity1 at their homes by village health nurses (VHNs). DESIGN: One volunteer from each of 61 hamlets was selected and trained in the detection of subjects with chest symptoms, sputum collection and transportation to the Primary Health Centre for smear examination. All smear-positive @entity1 were treated with 2RHZ/6TH and the drugs were supplied by VHNs fortnightly at their homes. RESULTS: During a period of 1 year (1992-93), the total population screened was 9383 @entity1 ; of these 5755 were aged 15 years and above. A total of 338 symptomatic subjects were identified; 12 sputum-positive cases were detected and started on treatment. Antituberculosis drugs were supplied by VHNs to @entity1 for the first 9 months of the study and by literate youths for the next 3 months. Spot drug checks revealed that 11 of the 12 @entity1 were regular in drug consumption. CONCLUSION: It is feasible to train literate tribal youth volunteers within a short time to detect subjects with chest symptoms in the community and thereby cases of @entity1907 . They can serve as an excellent model for community participation in difficult areas.
