However, TB is not just a public health problem but a socioeconomic one. Affected individuals suffer from extreme fatigue in addition to other debilitating ailments. They are fired from their jobs or are forced to leave. The stigma associated with TB in communities has drastic consequences for women and children. 1,00,000 women are abandoned by their families and more than 3,00,000 children leave their schooling as a result of TB every year.
TB takes a toll not only on the family but also on the community. An affected person infects approximately 12 other people in his lifetime. More than 70% of TB cases occur in the age group of 15-54 years, the primary age group in the workforce. The number of days lost from the workforce due to TB related ailments costs the Indian government at least $3 billion annually.
The World Health Organization’s has made it one of its Millennium Development Goals to reverse the incidence of TB by 2015. Achieving this goal would save the Indian government more than its entire annual health budget.
Operation ASHA, in close collaboration with the Government is taking tuberculosis treatment to the doorsteps of slum dwellers in North India, serving a population of 2 million slum-dwellers in five states and expanding rapidly. It has recently been elected to the Board of the Stop TB partnership, which is supported by the World Health Organization. You can see the work of Operation Asha and make a donation to Operation Asha
DOTS stands for Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course
Operation ASHA is extremely innovative, in fact it is profiled on the Center for Health Market Innovations here: http://healthmarketinnovations.org/program/operation-asha
By the way, great sticker!