The cough lasted for 10 months but Sankaran (name changed) delayed seeking medical help. His friends were afraid to say the word tuberculosis to him. Soon after diagnosis, he, like them, never uttered the word fearing that he might scare others. But today, Sankaran is fully cured of TB and is able to talk about it to others.
Gayathri’s (name changed) story of surviving TB symbolises her strong will. “People call it a curse. I thought I would die as I became very weak, and weighed only 32 kilograms,” she said. But prompt treatment, care and support made all the difference. Now, she spreads the message to persons such as the conductor of the bus in which she frequently travels.
‘Speak up to Stop TB. Fight Stigma’ is what the World TB Day 2019 is all about. As actor Suhasini Maniratnam said, “Spread the message. We need a chain reaction.” The actor, while taking part in an anti-stigma campaign by REACH, a NGO, on Saturday, recalled how she never thought that TB would recur in her after having been treated for primary complex as a child.
“The year was 1997 or 1998. I lost weight and weighed 47 kilos. I maintained a notebook to record my weight and was keen on making it to 60 kilos. I too had the fear, but I overcame it,” she said.
She launched a campaign in which persons took a pledge to fight TB by wearing a wrist band on their hand. They will then take a selfie with the band and send it to a designated WhatsApp number to show their solidarity for the cause. To start with, 50 volunteers from the patient community were trained in taking the campaign forward by distributing the pamphlets and the wrist band containing an anti-stigma pledge.
Speaking on the occasion, Ramya Ananthakrishnan, executive director of REACH, said 1,500 persons die every day due to TB in India. There were problems of persons being undiagnosed, delay in diagnosis and improper treatment, she said. She stressed on the need to create awareness. The REACH team enacted a skit on the occasion. Nalini Krishnan, director of REACH, was present.
