T.B or Tuberculosis – For a small child who reads about T.B in the headlines of a news paper, it might be a piece of news to be read once. But for the endless number of patients quarantined for up to a year or more with multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, tuberculosis is a dreadful dream come true. Over 8 million TB patients, with nearly 1.5 million registered for treatment in 2007 have been treated successfully. TB is one of the leading causes of deaths in India, killing 2 persons every 3 minute, nearly one thousand every year. |
To save the World from T.B.
 Tuberculosis is an airborne disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs. But, TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. TB is spreads through the air from one person to another. When a person with active T.B of lungs or throat coughs or sneezes,the bacteria are thrown into the air. This is most hazardous for the people near-by who inhale the bacteria laden air. When a person breathes in TB bacteria, the bacteria can settle in the lungs and begin to grow. From there, they can move through the blood to other parts of the body. People with active TB disease are most likely to spread it to people they spend time with every day. This includes family members, friends, and coworkers.
According to the 2007 Global TB Report Card released on the eve of World TB Day by two global health advocacy groups, most endemic countries are reporting alarming levels of treatment failures, which are either a sign or a cause of drug resistance.
In Russia, 41% of patients presenting for re-treatment of TB are at risk of developing MDR-TB. In South Africa and India, 20% of TB patients in the same category are at risk. Countries with over 10% risk include Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan, Myanmar, Uganda, Thailand and the Philippine . Rapid urban population growth, overcrowding in slums and prisons and malnutrition were blammed for the spread for T.B. Patients undergoing treatment for the disease are expected to be injected daily for the first six months before completing their treatment in two years compared to the six months it takes to treat the other strains. Treatment of MDR-TB requires so-called “second line drugs”, which can take years to effectively treat TB and are 100 times more expensive than first line drugs.MDR-TB can be passed between individuals as easily as drug-sensitive TB, the emergence of MDR-TB anywhere is cause for concern everywhere.
Dr Abigail Wright, the WHO TB specialist says,“TB and drug resistant TB affect the public, and this disease does not honour any borders... “.
Aids as staircase.
As Aids weakens the body's immune system,people with Aids are far more likely to become sick with TB if infected. 400,000 deaths in India are caused by tuberculosis (TB) each year, and it is the leading cause of death in the 15 to 45 age group.The increasing prevalence of HIV infection, which makes people more susceptible to TB and drug resistant types of TB, means the disease will pose an increasingly serious health hazard with high economic burden for India. $3 billion per year is the estimated direct and indirect costs of tuberculosis to the country. According to experts, however, in many African countries, the prevalence of MDR-TB is likely to be high both because of poor health care infrastructure, and because of the presence of Aids.
Global support
For every person successfully treated, there is one hand up in the air to grow in a world free of Tuberculosis. Let's stand for the cause , as it's us who really make the difference.
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