Karnal: TB survivors on mission to spread awareness & eradicate disease

Parveen Arora

Karnal, March 14

After winning the battle against tuberculosis (TB), 20 survivors are now working as ‘TB champions’ to spread awareness that the disease is curable.

Don’t treat them as outcasts

Mayor Renu Bala Gupta and Civil Surgeon Dr Yogesh Sharma honoured TB champions and appealed to the people not to treat the patients as outcasts. TB was curable, but it required regular treatment and motivation from the general public, family members, neighbours and relatives, they said.

Lost weight drastically

I contracted the disease thrice. I was 15-year-old when I was infected for the first time. My weight reduced drastically. My mother and the Health Department supported me a lot during treatment. Heena, City resident

As per the TB champions, most of them were ostracised by their neighbours and distant relatives, but with the support of family members, they overcame the challenge. The Health Department honoured these fighters on Tuesday at the Polyclinic in Sector16 to motivate the general public that TB could be eradicated from society.

They narrated their ordeal, which reflected that they had been traumatised.

“I came to know that I am a TB patient in April 2020 at the time when the Covid-19 infection had just begun to spread. People started maintaining a distance from us. I thought that I would not survive. I got myself confined to my room for 19 days. With the support of my husband, I came out of the trauma. My husband always motivated me and told me not to quit treatment mid-way, which helped me to get cured,” said 40-year-old Hemlata, a resident of Chhapar village in Indri block.

“After being cured of the disease, the department offered me the role of a TB champion to motivate other patients, which I accepted and now I call them regularly, motivating them,” she added.

Heena (28), a resident of the city, contracted the disease thrice. The first time, she contracted it from her elder sister. She recovered on all three occasions. “I was just 15 years old when I was infected for the first time. I had lost all hopes of living as my weight reduced drastically and the haemoglobin level fell to 4 gram. My mother and the Health Department supported me a lot during treatment. I continued all medicines provided by the department without break,” she added.

Manoj Kumar (29), a resident of Padha village, said he was infected with spine TB in 2019. People prayed for his life. “I am cured now and working as a TB champion as I did not break the chain of medicine,” he added.

Mayor Renu Bala Gupta and Civil Surgeon Dr Yogesh Sharma honoured such TB champions and appealed to the people not to treat the patients as outcasts. TB was curable, but it required regular treatment and motivation from the general public, family members, neighbours and relatives, they said. Dr Sharma said the government had decided to eradicate TB by 2025 and such champions would play a vital role in this.