An Intervention Where patient Follow-Up Does Not End Until an Outcome Is Established

It’s time to end TB stigma 

 Macharia, a 36 year old hawker, thought he had a flu. He had chills, was tired all the time, with no appetite, had a persistent cough and was shedding weight at an alarming rate. He knew something was wrong, so he visited Kariobangi Health Centre where he was diagnosed with TB. He was in shock and fearful after being told he had an infectious disease that required long term treatment and was immediately started on treatment during which time he was also enrolled on to the Keheala platform.  

Attitudes and behaviour of community members towards tuberculosis made Macharia hide his TB status from his family and friends as he wanted to avoid uncomfortable situations such as being shunned or being a subject of gossip. When Keheala support sponsors got in touch with Macharia, they created an enabling environment around him that was positive and supportive which reinforced his adherence  to his daily anti-TB pills. 

Within no time, he started getting better and embarked on hawking to fend for himself. Unfortunately, his life was disrupted again significantly, while hawking in the streets of Nairobi. He was arrested and had to serve three months in prison. Since he was not sure of how he would be treated in prison after disclosing his TB status, Macharia sadly kept the information to himself and defaulted treatment for the three months he was there. After several attempts to reach him, Keheala support sponsors contacted his clinician, who confirmed that Macharia had stopped going for his clinical visits and efforts to trace him were futile.

A month after his release, Macharia contacted Keheala and it was such a joy to hear from him again. He explained what befell him and was anxious because he had started experiencing the TB symptoms again more severely than he had before. 

We advised him to visit the clinic and inform his clinician what he had gone through and get tested again. Keheala was on Macharia’s case with regular phone follow up to know his diagnosis, and finally, Macharia informed us that he went to Kariobangi Health Center where he was restarted on treatment. It’s been five months since he was started on treatment and the first few weeks were the hardest dealing with the side effects associated with TB treatment, said Macharia. He is optimistic and determined to complete his treatment in the months to come and he feels more informed about TB through the information shared with him by Keheala. “I’m  forever grateful to Keheala for being a source of support. The source of support is not as important as the feeling that adequate support is available”, said an elated Macharia.