Lucknow, Mar 22 (IANS): The treatment period for patients of tuberculosis (TB) will soon reduce from six-nine months to three-four months which will be possible after the addition of some new drugs, said experts at King George's Medical University (KGMU) here.

Prof Ved Prakash, head of the pulmonary critical care medicine (PCCM) department, said: "The trials of these new drugs have brought hope to reduce medication to three to four months."

Faculty of respiratory medicine, Prof RAS Kushwaha said: "Investing in research and development for TB can lead to the development of newer, more effective tools and treatments. The family members of TB patients, who are below 5 years of age or above 65 years or having immune-compromise conditions should start taking preventive medication after getting recommendation from doctor as it can prevent them from getting infected."

He said this way the transmission can be stopped and also informed that the PCCM department has adopted 24 children and one village for healthcare and overall development.

KGMU Vice Chancellor Bipin Puri said: "We should make sure that all the TB patients are reported and patients do not leave medicine courses so that TB can end before 2025."

Prof Rajendra Prasad, professor, respiratory medicine, Lucknow Medical College, said we can progress towards a single universal regimen in our fight against all kinds of TB.