IMPACT OF COVID 19 ON DETECTION OF TUBERCULOSIS AT A COMMUNITY LEVEL HEALTH CENTER IN ALIGARH, INDIA

India is home to more than one quarter of the world's TB burden, and has reported 24.04 lakh new Tuberculosis cases in the year 2019. This number was before the pandemic struck whereas Tuberculosis notication rates fell by 25% during the period of January-June 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. To curb the spread of COVID-19, India announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days beginning March 2020 that further was extended to several more weeks. This lockdown proved a major hurdle to Tuberculosis patients seeking health care and may result in a delay in diagnosis, treatment interruptions and disease transmission in household contacts. Lockdown has also forced many migrant workers to return to their homes, leading to treatment interruption. In addition to this, since Tuberculosis resembles symptoms of COVID19, this furthermore leads to hesitation and fear in care seeking behaviour leading to decreased Tuberculosis notication rates throughout the country.