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Social stigma forces this mother to secretly take TB treatment

A 63-year-old widow, Jamnaben (name changed), who lives with her son in Amraiwadi, has been taking treatment of tuberculosis secretly, just because of the social stigma attached to it

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The 63-year-old being treated at the hospital
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In a country with the highest number of TB cases in the world, where treatment should be the need of the hour, social stigma continues to deter people.

A 63-year-old widow, Jamnaben (name changed), who lives with her son in Amraiwadi, has been taking treatment of tuberculosis (TB) secretly, just because of the social stigma attached to it. Being kicked out of her house earlier when she had fallen ill, she does not want it to happen to her again. For last four months she has been taking treatment from the Meghaninagar urban health centre of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), hiding the fact of treatment from her son.

"She was crying incessantly because she was detected with TB. She could not take dose of her tablets at home, just to avoid interrogation by her son. If he comes to know that she has been detected with TB, he would kick her out of the house," said Dr Arumugam Pillai, health officer of AMC.

She was diagnosed at Civil Hospital and was referred to us for DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment-Short Course), said the officer adding, "When doctor at the centre informed her that her family needs to be contacted so that she gets better care, she cried saying she will be neglected."

Dr Pillai added, "But that doesn't mean we can let her go without treatment. We had convinced her to take treatment and find out a mid way. She has been visiting the centre thrice a week now, because of her daughter's intervention. After four months of regular treatment, there are symptoms of cure."

Talking about the pain she has undergone, Jamnaben, who had stayed at her married daughter's house for sometime earlier, said, "I was apprehensive about informing my daughter too. But, she understood the pain and knows about the disease. Now, she is the one who keeps asking and pushing me to get the DOT."

She added, "I had a bad experience at my son's place. Due to my age and this disease, I feel helpless. He will kick me out of the house if he comes to know that I have TB. But, doctors are saying that there has been progress with my health."

"We are screening several patients and it takes time to get cured. For at least nine months, they have to take treatment without fail. It is depressing that many people leave the medication halfway which won't help them," said Dr Sanket Patel, Project coordinator, AMC.

STIGMA DOES MORE HARM

  • “Social stigma doesn’t let many patients take their treatment and medication properly. It is to be understood that if a TB patient goes without cure, for instance one year, there is a probability that s/he will transmit it to 15 others in that period.
     
  • We as a society and patients too should understand that regular treatment is a must,” said Dr Sanket Patel, project coordinator, AMC.
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