MUMBAI: On her train trip to paintings in Mumbai, Nandita Venkatesan logs on to Facebook to test the many messages she receives on a daily basis from young tuberculosis (TB) sufferers.
She reads every message moderately: a girl questioning whether or not to inform her boyfriend that she has TB, any other worrying if missing sessions is an aspect impact of TB medications, and a 20-year-old's question if TB will affect her sexual existence.
Venkatesan, who lost her hair and hearing to two bouts of intestinal tuberculosis and hid her illness for eight years of her decade-long suffering and is now a TB champion, knows simplest too smartly why you will need to answer every question.
"People don't ask doctors these questions. Nobody explains side effects. I had no one to refer to when I had similar doubts and read up a lot then. That is how I answer questions," Venkatesan, 28, instructed the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"The disease is seen as a matter of shame and defeat. And self stigma among girls is particularly high," stated Venkatesan, days before she won an award from a major Indian financial institution for her 'courageous battle' against TB.
India is the world's TB hot spot, accounting for just about 1 / 4 of the worldwide cases.
Abdominal TB isn't as repeatedly seen as pulmonary TB - the bacterial lung illness that spreads via coughs and sneezes - however sufferers of both suffer the similar social stigma linked to the illness.
Venkatesan, who used to be diagnosed with tuberculosis when she used to be 17, "in the most decisive years when you have notions of beauty, when girls my age were dating and building careers", stated women suffer greater than men as they're extra hesitant with queries.
"A woman wrote to me that her husband divorced her after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis," stated Venkatesan, who used to be steered by her doctor to not reveal her illness to "avoid repercussions on her personal life".
Manju Bajiya of Operation Asha, a non-profit that works with TB sufferers, stated that folks affected by the illness hardly ever speak overtly about it.
"Many patients, particularly women, don't even tell their families they are suffering from TB, as they fear being thrown out," Bajiya instructed the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Venkatesan had supportive oldsters, yet battled melancholy and "felt like a waste". Cured two years in the past, the media research graduate sat for a task interview with a major industry newspaper the place she verbally responded questions typed out for her.
"I have a job. I am a financially independent girl. Patients and survivors who write to me look up to me for that. It was a lonely battle for me. But you need that hope - that if she can do it, so can we."
She reads every message moderately: a girl questioning whether or not to inform her boyfriend that she has TB, any other worrying if missing sessions is an aspect impact of TB medications, and a 20-year-old's question if TB will affect her sexual existence.
Venkatesan, who lost her hair and hearing to two bouts of intestinal tuberculosis and hid her illness for eight years of her decade-long suffering and is now a TB champion, knows simplest too smartly why you will need to answer every question.
"People don't ask doctors these questions. Nobody explains side effects. I had no one to refer to when I had similar doubts and read up a lot then. That is how I answer questions," Venkatesan, 28, instructed the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"The disease is seen as a matter of shame and defeat. And self stigma among girls is particularly high," stated Venkatesan, days before she won an award from a major Indian financial institution for her 'courageous battle' against TB.
India is the world's TB hot spot, accounting for just about 1 / 4 of the worldwide cases.
Abdominal TB isn't as repeatedly seen as pulmonary TB - the bacterial lung illness that spreads via coughs and sneezes - however sufferers of both suffer the similar social stigma linked to the illness.
Venkatesan, who used to be diagnosed with tuberculosis when she used to be 17, "in the most decisive years when you have notions of beauty, when girls my age were dating and building careers", stated women suffer greater than men as they're extra hesitant with queries.
"A woman wrote to me that her husband divorced her after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis," stated Venkatesan, who used to be steered by her doctor to not reveal her illness to "avoid repercussions on her personal life".
Manju Bajiya of Operation Asha, a non-profit that works with TB sufferers, stated that folks affected by the illness hardly ever speak overtly about it.
"Many patients, particularly women, don't even tell their families they are suffering from TB, as they fear being thrown out," Bajiya instructed the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Venkatesan had supportive oldsters, yet battled melancholy and "felt like a waste". Cured two years in the past, the media research graduate sat for a task interview with a major industry newspaper the place she verbally responded questions typed out for her.
"I have a job. I am a financially independent girl. Patients and survivors who write to me look up to me for that. It was a lonely battle for me. But you need that hope - that if she can do it, so can we."
TB survivor helps patients tackle society, sex and stigma
![TB survivor helps patients tackle society, sex and stigma]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
February 26, 2018
Rating:
