In Pakistan the multi-resistant TB is on the rise
Sameera (14) is living with tuberculosis: Four years ago she was sick herself and now she is praying for the cure of her friend Hanna. This is not self-evident since TB bacteria develop resistances. Sameera is supporting the doctors of DAHW in their fight against the spread of this deadly danger.
There is only a glass panel separating the two girls – it prevents them greeting each other with a heartfelt hug, but Sameera and Hanna are close to each other anyway. They understand each other without the usual games, which are normal for girls of that age. Sameera is 14 years old now, and four years ago she was suffering from tuberculosis. Now, her 10-year-old friend has it.
At the hospital in Rawalpindi the staff of Aid to Leprosy Patients (ALP) are treating leprosy and TB patients from the northern areas of Pakistan with the help of the German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association (DAHW). Some weeks ago the doctor in charge, Dr. Chris Schmotzer, admitted Hanna to the hospital.
But there is a serious difference between Sameera’s and Hanna’s treatment: Sameera did not stay at the hospital for a long time and she was sent home very soon after admittance. She returned three times a week to take her drugs and, sometimes, for an examination. And at that time this screen through which she can see her friend today was not there: then no patient was isolated and only standard treatment was given.
In just a few years everything has changed in Pakistan: the numbers of cases of TB have been increasing continuously, but the numbers of patients with resistant TB bacilli have been growing especially rapidly: more than 13,000 persons have contracted the multi-resistant form of tuberculosis (MDR-TB) just like Hanna. Several drugs in the standard therapy do not have any effect on these bacteria.
Special medicines have to be provided for these patients – medicines with severe side-effects that are also extremely high in price. “The standard therapy is costing on average 50 Euro per patient, with MDR patients these costs increase to round about 1,000 Euro, sometimes it can even be far more,” explains Dr. Chris Schmotzer.
