Once the diagnosis of tuberculosis is confirmed, the patient must maintain a strict dietary and rest regimen to remain on the path to recovery. This is not easy since the dosage recommended involves consuming eight pills in the course of a day for a period of nine months. The patient feels fatigued though the disease is under control. The dosage of tuberculosis medication must be meticulously maintained to prevent the development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria that make successful treatment difficult and worsen the cases of disease spread.

Lack of awareness

Patients of tuberculosis often lack awareness about the possibility of the disease returning if the medicines are not taken as prescribed. The profile of patients is normally poor, uneducated and desirous of returning to work to continue earning for the family. The absence of personal care and follow up further exacerbates the worsening and spreading of the disease. Public health officials insist on meeting tuberculosis patients on a regular basis to ascertain that medicine consumption is being adhered to.

Research on public health

Research by major agencies has found that education of patients and their families on the need to stem tuberculosis because of the potential spread and possible complications if medicines are not taken has been found to be effective. Many times, patients of tuberculosis prefer to return to their work on account of the financially constrained situation and find it difficult to remember to take the dosage as recommended for controlling and curing tuberculosis.

Reminder possibilities

Some agencies have set up the mobile reminder facility that rings at a specific time to remind the patient to consume the tuberculosis medication. Once the medicine is consumed, the patient is required to send back a code confirming it. Regularity is rewarded with a pre-agreed incentive. This is a cheaper and more effective route than the follow up of public health nurses. The patient is not to be isolated when the treatment starts taking effect and regular work starts. Family members may take turns to call the patient to consume and confirm that tuberculosis medicine has been taken.

Community centres

Tuberculosis care initiatives are often taken by states to stem the spread and conversion to an epidemic. This is possible when the line of communication involves the larger community. The maintenance of basic hygiene, spreading awareness of infected sputum in the vicinity and educating patients about the possibility of complete recovery are good ways to motivate tuberculosis patients and counter the disease. Friends and relatives of the tuberculosis patient who have been in contact with the patient in the recent past must be informed of the diagnosis and checked for the possibility that the disease has spread to them.