Proper nutrition is crucial to treating tuberculosis. As TB weakens the immunity system, the recovery process is greatly enhanced through a well-balanced diet. Unfortunately, the many TB patients in government hospitals often complain that the food being served to them, more often than not, leaves them wanting for more.
A recovering TB patient needs daily about 2000 - 2500 calories, which must come from a balanced diet “of 150 grams proteins, 50-90 grams fat and the rest carbohydrates”. “Apart from this, enough micro-nutrients, including vitamin and mineral supplements, aid the patient’s recovery,” said Dr KC Mohanty, HoD of chest medicine at KJ Somaiya hospital.
Whether public hospitals meet the dietary demands of their TB patients is quite debatable. A senior TB specialist at a government hospital said under the condition of anonymity, “While certain hospitals, like the railway hospitals, serve them good food, a lot of other hospitals don’t seem to have worked out a balanced, and nutritious diet regime.”
While the food in public hospital wards may not pass the test of taste, it gives enough nutrition to patients, claimed Dr Amita Athavale, chest and TB specialist at KEM. “We must realise that TB patients often suffer from other ailments, like diabetes and malnutrition, which do not augur well with a lot of rice or sugar. Also, if you weigh very little, it’s not advisable to eat 2,000 calories daily,” she added.
“We would like to give them tastier food, but remember a government hospital doesn’t charge the high rates that private hospitals do,” she says. While the availability of funds is not the issue, the process of getting those funds sanctioned is quite tedious, said the TB specialist. “Any attempt to better the diet of patients in my ward must go through various levels of bureaucracy. Caught in red-tapism and the slow decision-making process, crores of government funds are left untouched each year and go back into the public coffers,” he added.
Critical of the food in public hospitals, senior pulmonary consultant Dr Jalil Parkar of Lilavati hospital said food in public hospitals is quite pathetic. “A recovering TB patient should ideally have five balanced meals in a day, as his/ her hunger increases manifold. This is a good sign. But with not enough food to satiate this hunger, the recovery process is delayed quite a bit,” he added.
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