The biggest medical problem of 2012?
This is a deeply moving photo-essay by xdrtb.org based on James Nachtwey's photographs. It is likely that the drug-resistant-TB problem may become one of the most urgent ones to solve in the light of this worrisome news from India.
While poverty alleviation programs (combined with free-health-care) are fundamental in battling such outbreaks, to decisively eradicate such preventable infections, free biology-education of the masses and a role for NGOs in providing information on the best anti-TB drugs must be combined with it.
This quote from the Letter to the Editor by Udwadia et al prompts the necessity for a multi-level approach:
"The vast majority of these unfortunate patients seek care from private physicians in a desperate attempt to find a cure for their tuberculosis. This sector of private-sector physicians in India is among the largest in the world and these physicians are unregulated both in terms of prescribing practice and qualifications. A study that we conducted in Mumbai showed that only 5 of 106 private practitioners practicing in a crowded area called Dharavi could prescribe a correct prescription for a hypothetical patient with MDR tuberculosis [5]. The majority of prescriptions were inappropriate and would only have served to further amplify resistance, converting MDR tuberculosis to XDR tuberculosis and TDR tuberculosis."








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