Tuberculosis
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Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious disease that usually affects the
lungs. TB spreads easily in crowded conditions—for example,
in cities, slums, refugee camps, factories, and office buildings—
especially in indoor areas where the air does not move much.
About 2.3 billion people (1⁄3 of the world’s population) have
been infected with TB and carry the TB germ in their bodies. But
only 14 million people are actually sick with TB right now.
TB is especially dangerous for people with HIV. TB makes
HIV disease progress faster, and HIV weakens the immune
system and allows people with TB infection to develop TB
sickness faster.
Women and TB
TB affects both men and women, but fewer women get
treatment. Nearly 2000 women die every day from TB, and
many die because they never knew they had the disease, they
did not receive proper treatment, or they also had HIV. It can
be more difficult for a woman to get health care to cure TB
because she may not be able to leave her family and work, or
does not have the money to travel to a clinic or to take a full
course of medicine. In some places a woman may not seek
treatment because she fears her husband will reject her as ‘sickly’
or too weak to do her work. A woman who works outside the
home may be afraid she will be dismissed because her employer
thinks she will infect others. Caring for sick family members also
puts a woman at greater risk of becoming infected with TB.
➤ With proper
treatment,TB can
almost always be
cured.
Where Women Have No Doctor 2012