Principal Investigators: James Nicholas Newell. Lead Organisation: University of Leeds
Co-investigators: Abu Nasar Zafar Ullah; Sushil Baral
PTB remains the single biggest killer of adults in the world - someone dies of TB every 15 seconds, nearly all in developing countries. TB particularly affects the poor. TB is a highly stigmatised disease - that is, TB patients are despised and shunned by the public. This adversely affects their lives, leading to isolation and depression, and limits their access to diagnosis and treatment. Up until now, the causes of this stigma and discrimination have not been properly studied.
This project therefore aims to better understand the causes of stigma and discrimination caused by TB. This will be done by interviewing people who are affected by such discrimination (TB patients and their families) and those who carry out the discrimination (friends, employers, neighbours), in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, three countries badly affected by TB. Records of the interviews will be analysed to find the main themes that emerge.
This project aims to produce strategies to reduce such discrimination. By understanding stigma and discrimination caused by TB, and then using that understanding to reduce their impact, it is hoped to make it easier for TB patients, and especially poor TB patients, to get proper diagnosis and treatment.