What's behind India's high tuberculosis infection rate?

DW (English)

Despite government pledges to eradicate tuberculosis by 2025, India has over 2 million cases of the infectious disease each year. DW met with experts and patients in Faridabad in the northern state of Haryana.

Transcript

00:00A silent enemy has taken hold of this neighborhood in the northern state of Haryana, tuberculosis.

00:09Mahesh Kumar was recently infected with the deadly disease.

00:13At the moment, only his lungs are affected, but it could spread to other parts of his

00:18body at any time.

00:20He is currently on a mix of pills that leave him tired and drowsy.

00:25It feels like I'm living life in a jail.

00:29I'm like a prisoner.

00:31I spend my days and nights here all by myself.

00:35Mahesh was diagnosed four months ago.

00:38The government does offer free TB medication and a small food allowance of 10 Euros.

00:44But Mahesh says he hasn't seen a penny of the allowance.

00:49I'm very upset with our government.

00:51They promised us support, but I haven't received any money from them.

00:56We're hoping they support us so that I can recover fast.

01:00In our city, there are no hospitals and machines for health checkups.

01:05Mahesh's case is not unique.

01:08Widespread poverty, poor hygiene and overcrowding have fueled its spread, affecting over 2 million

01:14people nationwide.

01:18This private hospital treats dozens of TB patients every day.

01:22For the first time in three months, Mahesh has been able to make the long journey here

01:27for a checkup.

01:28His consultant, Dr. Lawleen Mangla, finds the overall situation alarming.

01:33He says a shortage of medicine and lack of public awareness are causing the delay in

01:38the eradication of TB.

01:39I've been practicing in this area for the last five years and the number of cases which

01:45I was seeing five years back, they're still the same.

01:48And I don't think there is any decline in the number of cases.

01:52In 2018, the Indian government pledged to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025, a goal it's

01:58now very unlikely to achieve.

02:01After India's health ministry did not respond to several interview requests, DW turned to

02:06a public health expert for insight.

02:09If I may put it in a matter-of-fact manner, the government never was serious about it.

02:15The government can do the propaganda.

02:17That's what they're doing.

02:19Even when we had our GDP rising by at 11%, 12% a year, even in those times, health budget

02:28stagnated.

02:29Okay.

02:30Health budget is stagnant even now.

02:33So on what basis do we believe that, yes, it will be eliminated?

02:40Trade agencies like the Red Cross are stepping in, raising awareness in slums where tuberculosis

02:46outbreaks are common.

02:49The biggest challenge that we face is people's hesitation in coming out as TB patients.

02:54They do not want to share that they are infected with tuberculosis because they fear the social

02:58ostracization.

03:00Our job is to dispel that fear.

03:04Anyone who coughs for more than 15 days could be suffering from which disease?

03:08TB.

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