TUBERCULOSIS FUELS POVERTY.

“ We know TB drugs are easily available, but how can I buy it? I don’t have money for food, I am selling puffed rice to run my family. My husband is a TB patient too. Do you think I can continue our treatment?” asked thirty five years Fatema bibi from Jharkhali island of Sunderbons delta area. The area is nearly hundred KM from the Kolkata city. She came for treatment with her husband in the Mobile clinic in Sunderbons.. The Sunderbons is the largest Mangrove forest in the World and it was announced a high TB burdened province(2007) by the District Tuberculosis Control Society.

The “mobile clinic(A boat with doctors and other clinical equipment like a health clinic)” from the NGO “SHIS” which provides treatment facilities for the needy people in the village of Sunderbon Islands where health facility is very poor and due to poverty number of Tuberculosis patients are there. SHIS is the organization working in the six provinces in the state to control the TB disease.

Its not only the problem of Fatema bibi but most of the cases they have seen poverty is one of the reason to control the disease like Tuberculosis in the area said Abdur Wohad, one of the main key person of the NGO “SHIS”. He said that drug resistant TB occurs when patients are not treated with standard treatment protocols or discontinue their treatments but their organisation working in the Island to aware the people so that they should continue their treatment as per doctor’s advice..

Government of India has reinitiated a National Programme for control of deadly disease Tuberculosis which is spread among the poor people of villages where medical facilities is not there. SHIS is working in the districts to implement the plan of governmental programme Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme(RNTCP).

The World Health Organisation report reveals that that outbreak of drug resistant cases of Tuberculosis are increasing, Where India and China are worst affected. As per report Almost half of the estimated 440,000 cases of multi drug resistant tuberculosis reported in 2008 from India and China. The highest number of MDR(multi drug resistant)-TB emerging in these two countries. With 1.8 million new cases annually, India carries the largest TB cases in the World.

Tuerculosis awareness and control programme still going on in six high prevalence states in India where West Bengal is one of the state. As per West Bengal health department the annual risk of TB infection in the state is 1.3%, which means that more than ten lakh person (one million) are newly effected with Tuerculosis every year, where in India the total new MDR-TB new cases registered 3% every year.