Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, Feb. 8: TB Elimination from Jharkhand (TEJ), which has a network of more than 250 Tuberculosis (TB) survivors across the state, has expressed grief over the death of Sanjay Machhua of Jamshedpur. Machhua, while undergoing treatment at MGMCH, ended his life by jumping from the hospital building.
As reported by the media, Sanjay was diagnosed with TB and was undergoing treatment at the time of his death.
�TB is a treatable and curable disease � we know this, having survived TB ourselves. However, Sanjay is not the first person in Jharkhand or in India who chose to end his life while undergoing treatment for TB. This tragic incident calls attention to factors beyond treatment that affect an individual with TB,� the statement mentioned.
TB is a disease with social and economic dimensions � poverty is both a cause and a consequence of TB. To this, add the fact that TB is a highly stigmatised disease accompanied by isolation and social rejection. The TB treatment and the medicines themselves can have side-effects that require careful management and constant emotional support.
Most of all, Sanjay�s death reiterates the urgent need for counselling and psycho-social support through the course of TB treatment. As every one of us knows,the lack of emotional support takes a toll on an individual who is already suffering physically.
As TB survivors and Champions, we are working to support TB patients and their families and improve community awareness of TB. We are committed to supporting the TB programme and request the Revised National TB Control Programme in Jharkhand to involve us in the TB response.
It is our responsibility to prevent another person from taking his/her life because of TB.
