STOP TB

The verandah of Chellamal's house serving as space for the village women to gather for a CSG meeting where TB and ways of eradicating it are discussed

Seen in the photo is a group of women viewing the REACH "Inaintha Kaigal" short TB film in Janaki's house during a CSG meeting

Young and energetic, Chellamal and Janaki of Kancheepuram district have always come forward in lending space in their homes for CSG meetings. Both these women are Self Help Group leaders, so working for a common cause is not new to them.

They have always been extensively supportive and gone out of their way to facilitate our ACSM meetings in their homes. They have always been very accommodative in fitting our meeting timings with their family routines.

To them providing a platform to spread the TB message is their way of stopping TB…

Thanks to the many people like Chellamal and Janaki, our ACSM efforts are progressing in the right direction.

REACH Blog Team

Seen in the photograph sitting second from left is Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, Technical Health Advisor, Internews Network, Dr. M. S. Jawahar, Deputy Director, TRC, Dr. Nalini Krishnan, Director, REACH, Ms. Chitra Mahesh, Media Consultant and standing from left Ms. Anupama Srinivasan, Media Consultant, Dr. Ramya Ananthakrishnan, Medical Director REACH and Dr. Padma Priyadarshan, Senior Research Officer, TRC with the fellows of the media program

Dr. Ramya elucidating on the socio-economic factors that impact TB

Dr. Jawahar giving the fellows the profile of Tuberculosis

The space enclosed between the four walls of the Genesis hall at Hotel Breeze was filled with discussions, brain storming, learning, experience and views sharing during the two –day orientation cum training program on 5^th and 6^th July organized by REACH for the ten journalists, all affiliated to local language publications, from across India who have been awarded fellowships by the REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Program.

Over the two days, the group discussed the science of tuberculosis, the structure of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) in India and the

challenges in the management of TB including MDR-TB, TB-HIV co-infection, the

role of private practitioners and stigma. In addition, the journalists participated

in several skills-building sessions led by Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, Technical Health

Advisor, Internews Network, learning to use data and statistics for health

reporting and identifying common challenges in reporting on public health.

Interacting with the group, Dr. V Kumaraswami, Director-in-charge,

Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC) urged journalists to find creative ways to

keep the issue of TB alive in the media.

Dr. M S Jawahar, Deputy Director, TRC, pointed out TB was one of the greatest serial killers in history. “But unlike the others, TB continues to be as big a problem today as it was many years ago”, he said.

Dr. Padma Priyadarshini, Senior Research Officer, TRC, spoke of the difficulties in diagnosing and controlling HIV-TB co infection. Dr. Ramya

Ananthakrishnan, Medical Director, REACH, highlighted the need to study the

socio-economic factors that have a tremendous impact on TB, including poverty

and nutrition.

Participants also visited the District TB Centre in Chennai to meet program

staff and gain first-hand understanding of how the program functions.

Through this initiative REACH hopes to soon see sustained reporting on Tuberculosis in local language papers.

REACH Blog Team