Can New Strategies To Expand Care Reduce Stigma?
Globally, TB killed an estimated 700,000 women in 2001. Men comprise 70% more of reported TB case-patients than do women, and the prevalence of disease is greater among men, except in women’s early reproductive years. Gender-specific research is still limited, but studies suggest that men are less likely to complete treatment than are women. Women are more likely to seek later treatment with advanced disease. Malnutrition, HIV, civil and economic crises, and urbanization likely increase women’s risk for exposure and disease. The severity of stigma varies but does affect involvement of providers, patients, and communities. Evidence from South Asia, Africa, and Vietnam suggests that the potential for stigmatization affects women’s help-seeking more than men and is linked to fears of contagion and social isolation. A new global scale effort to control TB has begun, based on the directly observed treatment short course (DOTS), with over 180 countries now engaged. Still, TB case detection i
Globally, TB killed an estimated 700,000 women in 2001. Men comprise 70% more of reported TB case-patients than do women, and the prevalence of disease is greater among men, except in women’s early reproductive years. Gender-specific research is still limited, but studies suggest that men are less likely to complete treatment than are women. Women are more likely to seek later treatment with advanced disease. Malnutrition, HIV, civil and economic crises, and urbanization likely increase women’s risk for exposure and disease. The severity of stigma varies but does affect involvement of providers, patients, and communities. Evidence from South Asia, Africa, and Vietnam suggests that the potential for stigmatization affects women’s help-seeking more than men and is linked to fears of contagion and social isolation. A new global scale effort to control TB has begun, based on the directly observed treatment short course (DOTS), with over 180 countries now engaged. Still, TB case detection i
