By Rhea Mathur
Tuberculosis is the top infectious disease in the world. It affects nearly four thousand five hundred lives each day. In 2016, about ten million people faced this deadly disease and almost two million deaths were recorded. The disease is caused by the bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that often affects the lungs. It is spread through coughing, sneezing or spitting, which propels TB germs into the air. The disease was first discovered by Dr. Robert Koch in 1882 when he found the bacterium responsible for the disease, which opened up the avenue towards the research and prevention of tuberculosis.
The disease affects the immune system, especially affecting those with already compromised systemsfor example, those who suffer from HIV or malnutrition. An additional challenge with the disease is that it remains in a dormant state for several months after transmission. The initial symptoms include coughing, fevers, and weight loss which are not unlike those for other diseases. For this reason, there is always a delay in treatment, making the situation more severe by the time it is detected. Often this allows further transmission to take place as well. Without proper treatment, more than sixty-six percent of the people affected do not survive.
While the disease has caused havoc around the worldaffecting people more than HIVIndia remains the most affected. A record high of four lakh twenty-three thousand deaths were recorded in 2016 in India alone. India, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and China are also severely affected.
How grim is the situation in India?
The main reason behind the spread of TB in India is the high poverty rate. Almost two hundred and seventy-six million people live under the global poverty line, as stated the Government of India in 2011. The World Health Organization, after years of research, concluded that tobacco, poor housing, and sanitation are all factors that increase the risk of the deadly disease. This means that a large part of India’s population live in conditions that make them prone to catching the disease. As a result of his, it is common for families to be unable to afford treatment, thus neglecting the symptoms further until it is too late.
Another factor is the lack of medical resources. Machines are available to test samples of suspected TB but are in short supply. Moreover, the detection machines that are used in much of Africa and Europe are more advanced and give their results in much less time. Fewer than eight hundred machines are available in India today. It has also been noted that the prescribed period for taking antibiotics is much longer in India as compared to other countries. Due to this, the patient often stops taking the drug, since he/she is unable to see any sign of progress. All this has made the treatment process in India much less effective than anywhere else in the world.
Fighting the deadly disease effectively
In March 2017, The Government of India announced its aim to eliminate Tuberculosis in the country by 2025. Ensuring affordable and quality healthcare to the population is a priority for the government and we are committed to achieving zero TB deaths… we need to re-strategize, think afresh and have to be aggressive in our approach, said Jagat Prakash Nadda, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, during last year’s World TB day. Mr. Nadda had also mentioned that the Drug resistant TB” was a “growing threat” in India since its “diagnosis and treatment is much costlier,” in the country. However, he elaborated that a New anti-TB drug Bedaquiline” had been introduced “under Conditional Access Programme (CAP) to improve outcomes of drug resistant TB treatment.
Along with this, the minister mentioned the importance of awareness about the disease. He went on to state that Awareness plays a vital role in enhancing the uptake of services offered by the government for TB and fighting stigma and discrimination prevalent against the TB patients. In order to spread awareness about the issue, a Guidance document on the Nutrition Support for Tuberculosis Patients was made available to the public. Although the current state of the prevention and cure of TB is especially grim in India, the country is slowly making progress. The existence of days like the World TB day provide an opportunity for the country to evaluate the direction of the progress and to further enhance the anti-TB effort. While the change may not be very fast, India is moving relentlessly forward to meet its aim of eradicating deaths due to TB by 2025.