Patna: Tests for diagnosing tuberculosis have been badly hit in Bihar in the aftermath of the state government imposing total ban on the sale of alcohol, authorities said Thursday.

Thestate government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar enforced blanket ban on use of all kinds of alcohol in Bihar in April last year under pressure from the women’s groups, who blamed substance abuse for domestic violence.

Alcohol and spirit are typically used in conducting tests like sputum microscopy, making smears, cleaning of plungers of the CBNAAT and also surface disinfection.

But the acute scarcity of alcohol for medical use, since the imposition of the ban, has badly hampered work, authorities say.

Bihar has 732 designated microscopy labs and 60 fluoroscent microscopy labs, apart from the Intermediate Reference Library at Patna to test TB where approximately 2,000 litres of methylated spirit and ethanol are required annually to conduct various TB-related test.

“The TB diagnosis test is set to hit badly as we have no stock of alcohol and spirit to conduct tests. So far, we had been using the old stock but they too have run short completely,” Communicable Diseases Office in Patna Dr Ganesh Prasad told the Gulf News. Some 40,000 sputum tests are conducted in Patna district alone every year, according to the official.

“Their scarcity is now bound to hit the TB diagnosis programme but we are helpless,” he added adding the substitutes being suggested for tests are not effective.

Another official working with the TB progamme narrated similar problems. “We are somehow managing to conduct tests depending on old stock but it will hardly last for a month,” said TB officer Vijay Kumar who is posted in Gaya, some 100 km south of Patna. “We have apprised the government of the entire situation. The government should act fast in this matter or the disease will spread fast,” he warned.

Tuberculosis still remains a matter of serious concern in Bihar and according to an official report, 64,178 cases of TB were detected last year as against 64,937 in 2015 and 68,145 in 2014.

“The scarcity of alcohol indeed has been challenge for us but we have taken up the matter with the excise department,” Bihar State Programme Officer (TB Programme) Dr K N Sahay said adding right now they were using substitutes to conduct tests. “The excise department has agreed to arrange methylated spirit and ethanol for us,” he revealed.

Authorities said the labs had stocks of spirit and ethanol to last only four-six months when the ban came into force in April last year but most of which got exhausted in the next six months.

The new excise law which many term it “draconian” provides for arrest of the persons under non-bailable sections once caught possessing or consuming liquor, community fine on the entire village, arrest of the entire adult family members if caught with liquor bottles at home and cancellation of all government licences once found guilty of violating the laws.

The law also provides for death sentence to the accused persons in case of death due to consumption of spurious liquor or life sentence plus a penalty of Rs One million.