Battling TB, abandonment and stigma

Though a curable disease, many patients face desertion by family; over 33,000 cases recorded this year

For over six months, Shabana Bee has been battling tuberculosis (TB). She is uneducated, on medication, and works as a daily wage labourer. A mother of three at 25 and abandoned by her husband, Ms. Bee says she has attempted suicide more than once. And after a relapse, the stigma associated with TB has worsened.

Ms. Bee lives in a rented accommodation in Vattepally, a notified urban slum according to GHMC records. One has to negotiate one’s way through an uncovered water pipeline and small boulders to reach her dwelling.

She lays a

haseer, mat, on the floor before sitting down to narrate her story. “I was taken to Erragadda (Government Chest Hospital) where they said I have TB. Once we were back, my husband said he would return after some time. After a few minutes, he called me on my phone and said he cannot take care of me. He left. Now, he wants my children,” she says, her lips quivering, as she struggles to fight back tears.

To exacerbate her situation, Ms. Bee is forced to eke out a living while undergoing treatment. “I wash dishes in houses in the

mahalla (neighbourhood) and earn around ₹60 everyday. My mother sells jam ( guavas); that is how we pay the rent,” she says. She is administered medication under the Centre’s Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program at a local clinic.

Vulnerable urban slums

As per government data, there were over 48,000 recorded TB cases last year in the State. Till October this year, the number stands at 33,173. Government doctors, who are a part of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme, say those living in urban slums, irrespective of religion, are vulnerable to the disease. They also confirmed that stigma which many patients face is a major cause for concern. Experts say there are many others like Ms. Bee.

Humera Begum (name changed), 21, has been a TB patient for over six months. She too is a victim of abandonment.

“I was admitted to the Erragadda hospital for five months. My children did not see me for the entire duration and did not recognise me later. My husband left me three months ago and wants to marry my sister,” she says.

NGOs pitch in

The treatment coordination and support for these women have been taken up by the Helping Hand Foundation. Its office bearer Mujtaba Hussain Askari says there are 20 such cases which have come to the NGO. Another case in Sangareddy is being followed up.

“The stigma associated with TB in urban slums is huge. But since it is a curable disease, the hostility which the patients face needs to go. We lodged a complaint against a man who deserted his wife, a TB patient. We are planning to do more. The stigma is not community-specific,” he clarified.