The old serial killer is back, hunting down some and scaring others. Government experts and private health professionals may quibble over what the newest form of tuberculosis should be called, extensively drug resistant (XDR) or totally drug resistant (TDR). But the fact is that the disease is getting progressively harder to beat, going from simple TB to XXDR/TDR in about three decades. And we citizens, some of whom may also be patients, are partly to blame.
Time was when tuberculosis was a scary disease. To contract it was akin to being sentenced to death. Then modern medicine began getting the better of the bacillus that causes the ailment. Soon, however, we started getting complacent. Slowly, the disease has been clawing its way back, sometimes on its own, sometimes with HIV/AIDS.
Admittedly, the course of medication for TB can be long and tiresome. The drugs are so powerful that they induce nausea and cause weakness. As a result, quite a few patients decide for themselves when they have been ‘cured’ and stop the medication, enabling the disease to come back in still more potent form.
Worse, however, is the lack of hygiene among citizens. Even today, in the midst of this scare, you will find people spitting everywhere.This habit needs to be ended swiftly. It’s not enough to urge people not to spit. Those caught doing so must be fined. Or, better still, made to clean it up right there. Sometimes, shame works better than fines.
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