Anyone who breathes can get TB (Tuberculosis), say health experts. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), out of the 9.4 crore TB cases reported from across the world, around 1.99 crore were from India. No wonder the WHO’s strategy this time, when it called for observing World TB Day on March 24, was to ‘reach, treat and cure.’
Responding to the call, various organisations including the district wing of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Health and Family Welfare Training Centre under the Health Department here organised various programmes to create awareness about the burden of tuberculosis and the measures to control it.
A street play staged by the students of the training centre on the Mofussil bus stand premises here on Tuesday underscored the ‘growing concern’ over the spread of the disease.
The play touched upon almost all the important matters including the social stigma attached to TB and the scientific methods to be followed in its treatment.
While vouching for the fact that it is a ‘completely curable disease,’ if treated properly, the students of the health inspector course, who staged the play, cautioned the spectators that incomplete and irregular treatment, could however lead to multi - drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which could be fatal.
The play, which depicts the plight of a male TB patient ‘disowned’ by his family, ends on a note of hope and the intervention of a group of health workers. They tell him that the illness is ‘nothing to worry’ with proper treatment.
N. Rajendran, principal of the centre, said the play was an attempt to give hope to all TB patients by stating that the disease could be completely cured if they followed the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short course) for six months.
There were over 30 centres including the District TB centre, Beach General Hospital, and the Government Medical College Hospital with laboratory facilities to test if one had contracted the disease, he said. “The test and treatment at these centres are free,” Dr. Rajendran said. More than 50 students were part of the play. They displayed placards with anti-TB messages. Their banners listed the symptoms, treatment methods, and the precautions to be taken.
