except us; according to the doctor we met with they were all immune to it! We watched as she met with patients and told them they have TB… it’s amazing how much stigma is involved with being sick here in India. When people get TB symptoms they don’t tell anyone because they don’t want to be isolated from their families/communities, and then they end up spreading the disease to the people around them. TB is already incredibly contagious, and the fact that people aren’t treating it makes the whole country a TB warzone. The DOTS program (Direct Observation Therapy) enforces people with TB to take their medication, by watching them take it at the specific DOTS centers around the city. It’s a really good idea, since no matter what you prescribe, what it comes down to is whether the patient takes the medication or not. After Mahavir Hospital we went back to Lifespring and did some work there, tomorrow’s the festival!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The One Where We Try Not To Breathe
Altaf left this morning, and Dr. Adnan Akhter came to take his place as coordinator. We went to Mahavir hospital, where we met with TB patients and learned about the DOTS program. This was actually very interesting, and it was good to have Adnan with us since he’s an immunologist—he was able to fill us in on a lot of details about TB as we went along. No one in the hospital was wearing masks
except us; according to the doctor we met with they were all immune to it! We watched as she met with patients and told them they have TB… it’s amazing how much stigma is involved with being sick here in India. When people get TB symptoms they don’t tell anyone because they don’t want to be isolated from their families/communities, and then they end up spreading the disease to the people around them. TB is already incredibly contagious, and the fact that people aren’t treating it makes the whole country a TB warzone. The DOTS program (Direct Observation Therapy) enforces people with TB to take their medication, by watching them take it at the specific DOTS centers around the city. It’s a really good idea, since no matter what you prescribe, what it comes down to is whether the patient takes the medication or not. After Mahavir Hospital we went back to Lifespring and did some work there, tomorrow’s the festival!
except us; according to the doctor we met with they were all immune to it! We watched as she met with patients and told them they have TB… it’s amazing how much stigma is involved with being sick here in India. When people get TB symptoms they don’t tell anyone because they don’t want to be isolated from their families/communities, and then they end up spreading the disease to the people around them. TB is already incredibly contagious, and the fact that people aren’t treating it makes the whole country a TB warzone. The DOTS program (Direct Observation Therapy) enforces people with TB to take their medication, by watching them take it at the specific DOTS centers around the city. It’s a really good idea, since no matter what you prescribe, what it comes down to is whether the patient takes the medication or not. After Mahavir Hospital we went back to Lifespring and did some work there, tomorrow’s the festival!
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