TB continues to be the top infectious killer worldwide. The emergence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) poses a major health security threat and could risk gains made in the fight against TB.
Community TB volunteers are making a great contribution towards treatment success among MDR-TB patients in Myanmar, with support from the Global Fund.
U Nyi Nyi Aung, a 49-year-old TB patient from North Okkalapa, is bright and cheerful as he looks forward to being reunited with his family. The prospect of seeing his children again gives him a new purpose in life and strength to live – which could not have been possible without the dedicated support of Pyi Gyi Khin’s TB field visit team.
“I used to be a good household head, earning enough for my family, and we used to be a happy family. But my wife and children left me when I could not support them any longer due to my illness,” he tells us, remembering how TB has affected his whole family.
Though at first he coped with the separation, he gradually turned to drinking daily in search of consolation, not taking care of himself, lost weight and began showing signs of TB.
“When everybody else in the world including my own family had left me, the only person left standing by my side was my mother, as always,” he says. He is unable to express how grateful he is to his mother, who was ready to use all possible available means if only her son could recover from his debilitating illness.
At first, he stubbornly refused to get treatment, “My mother said she would use her pension to get appropriate care and treatment for me, but I refused, knowing her meagre pension is all she has to live on.”
To make things worse, he had to go from clinic to clinic looking for the right treatment. Fortunately, they got the right treatment when they finally arrived at Insein Aung San TB Hospital, after being referred there by the township public health centre. He was diagnosed with MDR-TB.
“I fainted when I was diagnosed with MDR-TB, which drained away the little energy left in my exhausted body and purposeless life.” He felt so lost and helpless before the basic health staff from township health department, Pyi Gyi Khin volunteer and volunteer's monitor started to visit him regularly in his home after his discharge from the hospital, to give him the support he needed to make sure he complied with the whole course of treatment. The township basic health staff gives him the morning medications, whereas the Pyi Gyi Khin volunteer and volunteer's monitor provide the evening medications.
He used to wait for the Pyi Gyi Khin volunteer's visits to get the chance to speak to her. “The volunteer patiently explains to me all I need to know about my treatment, what precautions I should take to prevent transmission of TB to my mother, how to stay healthy, and the importance of completing the whole course of treatment. The support also includes transportation cost and nutrition.”
U Nyi Nyi Aung has been empowered through the support and knowledge he has received from the Pyi Gyi Khin TB team. “When I had completely lost hope of recovering, they brought back a new purpose in life to be reunited with my family and the strength to live my life again.”
U Nyi Nyi Aung has now completed the whole course of MDR-TB treatment and he is in good health, living happily together with his family.
Pyi Gyi Khin has been implementing its Global Fund supported MDR-TB project, ‘Patient centered community based MDR-TB care model’ since 2018 in 21 townships in Yangon, with the aim of supporting treatment success in MDR-TB patients while ensuring infection control and a standard package of support with the close collaboration of the National Tuberculosis Programme.
