Karnataka - Bangalore   

‘TB bigger killer than a tsunami’

— PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR

NEW ROLE: Actor Suhasini Mani Ratnam addressing an awareness workshop on tuberculosis and health reporting for Mount Carmel College students in Bangalore on Friday.

Bangalore: Did you think tuberculosis is history and HIV/AIDS the killer of the century? Far from it. A thousand people die every day of the disease in India. “In fact, tuberculosis (TB) is a bigger killer than a tsunami or the Iraq-Iran war,” said Suhasini Mani Ratnam, well-known South Indian actor-activist here on Friday.

Speaking at a workshop on TB awareness and health reporting for students of Mount Carmel College organised by REACH (Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health), a Chennai-based organisation, Ms. Suhasini, who herself had the condition in her childhood, said there was a misconception that TB was a disease of the past. “All of us should try to create awareness about this disease and propagate the message that it can be (cured) if the person is treated on time,” she said.

On health reporting, she advised students to listen objectively and report sensitively.

“You as journalists have a great responsibility towards society. Try to clear misconceptions among people and create awareness about social issues. But do not sensationalise news,” she told them.

Addressing students, Nalini Krishnan, Founder-Member and Director (Projects) of REACH, said the organisation had launched an advocacy programme for control of TB, in association with the Tuberculosis Research Centre and the Indian Council of Medical Research.

“We want to sensitise budding journalists on health reporting and guide them on creating awareness among the people about critical public health issues,” Dr. Krishnan said.

“The reasons for choosing to fight TB were many. The World Health Organisation has declared it a global emergency and India accounts for a third of the global TB burden, and it is a bigger killer than AIDS in the country,” she pointed out. “Our aim is to tell people that TB is curable, and drugs are available for patients free through the Revised National TB Control Programme. REACH has also devised DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Courses), a strategy to ensure that patients complete the entire course of medication. Incomplete or poorly supervised treatment is worse than no treatment at all, because it results in drug resistance,” Dr. Krishnan said.

Parvathi Menon, Chief of Bureau, The Hindu, Bangalore, cautioned the students not to get carried away by tall claims made of cures, especially by the private medical sector.

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