A general practitioner in a private clinic diagnoses sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB in a 40-year-old man. Regarding mandatory TB case notification in India, which statement is correct?

• A Only public sector laboratories are required to notify TB cases
• B Notification applies only to patients who accept free government treatment
• C Private practitioners need to notify only multidrug-resistant TB cases
• D Notification of every TB patient is mandatory for all healthcare providers through the NIKSHAY portal ✓

Explanation

TB was declared a mandatorily notifiable disease in India in May 2012. Every provider, public or private, must notify every diagnosed TB patient to the NIKSHAY portal so that treatment outcomes can be tracked and contact tracing done. Option C fails because notification covers all forms of TB including drug-sensitive disease, not just MDR-TB.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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