“When I was diagnosed with pleural TB six months ago, the first thought that popped into my head was, “Why me? I have done nothing wrong, what did I do to deserve this?” I had completed my engineering and was to be married in a few months. Several things worried me – would my fiancé accept that I had TB? It seemed better to just call it off. When the social worker told me that I had TB, I just broke down and cried for several hours, I couldn’t stop myself. I stayed depressed for days and seriously thought of calling off my impending wedding, but my mother helped me through that. And after bein ..read more

At first sight, Raju* (named changed for anonymity) looks older than his 27 years. His frame is thin and his eyes seem misty. He sits down and tells his story: “When I was diagnosed with sputum positive TB earlier this year, I did not take it seriously. Life seemed to go on as usual – I didn’t have a job and lived off my father’s earnings, I drank heavily every evening with my friends and didn’t take the anti-TB medicines regularly. My tests too began to show sputum negative for a couple of months, before I went back to being sputum positive. I even had fits at night. I had progressed to Cat 2 ..read more

Located in Royapuram, CSI Rainy is, as the hospital’s director puts it, “a  private institution where people are sure they can receive individualised attention and care and avoid the long queues of government hospitals, at rates significantly lower than the norm elsewhere.” The hospital has been one of the earliest institutions to work with REACH and allow us a DOTS centre on their premises. The DOTS centre is a small, somewhat cramped space, but it serves its purpose well – an area just below a staircase with dusty, metal checkered grills, fitted in with a cupboard, and a utilitarian tab ..read more

Just as his battle with alcoholism was about to end, V Radhakrishnan found himself faced with another problem – TB meningitis, a condition that affects the brain and causes incoherence and confusion. Mr V Radhakrishnan, Pic: Sai Dinakar A goldsmith by profession, he arrived in Chennai about two decades ago and earned himself a good reputation at the jewelry shop he worked at, as a dedicated goldsmith with a keen eye for detail. But home was a different story – his alcoholism and violent, erratic drunken behavior drove his wife and two sons out of the house. They now live separately. When he ..read more

“When my husband got Tuberculosis, I had no idea what it was. My husband was an alcoholic and wasn’t concerned about me and our family. He didn’t take his medicines regularly. During the time of Chennai floods, I got a call from the DMC that my husband wasn’t taking regular treatment. I tried to convince him but eventually gave up. I was working as a house maid at that time. Someone from REACH came to visit us to follow-up on my husband’s treatment. During one of the visits, he told my mother that they were looking for a volunteer to work with REACH. My mother referred me as I have seen the di ..read more

“I was a smoker at the time I was diagnosed with TB two years ago. The doctor told me I was even more at risk due to my habit of smoking. I was miserable because I couldn’t even hug or kiss my children when I wanted to. I wanted to be healthy. In fact, even before I got TB, I was scared of going near my children because I used to smell of cigarettes all the time and it wasn’t healthy for my children. So, after starting treatment I quit smoking. First month of treatment was very difficult for me and I couldn’t go to work. But I was determined to defeat TB and I did it. Now I do not have TB and ..read more

“My husband was a drug addict and an alcoholic. When he got TB, Suganya from REACH contacted me for getting tested. My children and I were taken for a screening test and X-ray and my younger child was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. Had Suganya not intervened, I wouldn’t have taken the issue seriously as I did not know that TB could have infected my family. My younger child has completed treatment but my older one was diagnosed recently and is on treatment. My husband had all the bad habits, which made him prone to diseases like TB. When he couldn’t walk due to TB, I used to go to the center to ..read more

According to World Health Organization (WHO), “TB is nevertheless a leading infectious cause of death among women and about 700 000 women die of TB annually around the world.” Why does it happen? What are the factors that make women die of TB? Cultural and financial barriers can act as major obstacles for women seeking care resulting in delayed presentation and more severe illness. People with chronic, infectious diseases such as TB and HIV are generally stigmatized and avoided. Women suffer more stigma and discrimination than men. Stigma and discrimination make women reluctant to seek care fo ..read more

“I won’t take medicines till my exams get over” screamed the Sixteen years old boy, whose deceased father was a TB patient. The boy was diagnosed with TB when all members of the family were screened for TB. He witnessed the father’s illness and his statements of suffering about the sense of vomiting, stomach pain, fever, head ache etc. The words of his father  sown strongly inside him and made him to feel that the TB treatment creates other illness which lead to state of in-activeness. He scared that his in-activeness made him not to study and get through the exams. But his deteriorating ..read more

TB Control not only lie with the success of treating TB patients alone but also with screening the family members of the patients for TB disease and with enrolling the positively diagnosed into the treatment of TB for Cure. This journey of Contact screening may not be the bed of roses for the health workers. They start from counselling to convince the contacts, then to follow up them for diagnosis and also with the treatment if needed. We all know how strong the Religious Customs are! And how does it hold the people very firmly?!  Let us see how does the health worker face this challenge ..read more