About the area

The north western part of Vijayanagaram district is a typical tribal area (tribals are the poorest of the poor - indigenous people below the Indian “caste” system) made up of tiny villages in hills and forests.  People are mostly illiterate, with no land ownership.  The reach of government health services is inadequate, as many villages are extremely difficult to access, with very poor roads and communication facilities. There is very little awareness of TB. People with TB symptoms often cannot access diagnosis due to the physical effort or the cost involved in traveling to a diagnostic centre which could be over 100kms away.  This could be fatal for them as well as resulting in spread of the infection. If they do get diagnosed they may find it difficult to attend the referral centre (which could still be 10’s of km away) regularly to receive medication - resulting in high drop-out rates, and drug resistance.

GMLF

Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Fund (GMLF) has already built a rapport with this community (working with leprosy patients) and the project will enable them to expand to provide outreach TB services. 

Activities include: Health Education/Awareness/ Community Outreach -  aiming to reach at least 60,000 people (over half the population) per year (Awareness for TB may be raised for example in a Burra Katha, a traditional drama - click here to watch a scene)

Provision of TB diagnostic facilities by sputum microscopy – aiming to test at least 1,000 TB symptomatics per year

Provision of DOTS: Supporting patients through the course of medication; following up defaulters; running DOTS Centres in outreach areas with local volunteer help (bringing the treatment to the patients rather than expecting patients to come miles to get their medication weekly); checking contacts of infectious TB cases, giving them information about TB and referring those with suspected TB for diagnosis; and providing preventive treatment for those most at risk (children under 5) who have been in contact with infectious TB. The project aims to treat at least 100 patients per year.