PIH staff members are eager to share their success in treating MDR-TB patients with other health providers around the world. |
The pain of knowing that many people died unnecessarily from TB before PIH could help haunts Bayona, “Despite the fact that thousands of patients have received proper treatment for MDR-TB in [Peru] during the last decade, the early and unjust death of these first patients from Carabayllo is something that my memory cannot erase.”
Bayona recalls a story of a woman who took her young daughter to a doctor. Her daughter was diagnosed with MDR-TB, and the doctor said, “Don’t waste your time and money. Instead of spending money in medicines that are not going to work, save it for the funeral. Get back home and burn all of your daughter’s clothes and bed [linens].”
The first group of patients who were enrolled in the MDR-TB program completed their treatment in 1998. PIH achieved a cure rate of more than 80 percent - a rate previously unthinkable in Third World conditions. PIH has gone on to treat more than 6,000 MDR-TB patients in Peru. By negotiating with pharmaceutical companies, PIH took an active role in driving down medication prices so that providing free antibiotics to patients became feasible. PIH also attacks the root causes of the spread of TB by implementing programs that improve access to food, shelter, clean water, sanitation, education and economic assistance.
Since PIH began its ground-breaking work with MDR-TB patients in Peru, "more than 40 countries or regions are now dealing with the management of MDR-TB cases worldwide," states Bayona. |
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A group of mothers and children gather at a small neighborhood clinic that provides basic primary care and health education in the community as part of the "Child Health Program." Weighing children is part of monitoring their overall health and nutritional status. |
PIH health workers must counsel patients on the importance of continuing their treatment. |
My husband was sick with TB and I knew I was next. I didn't want to go through what he was going through.
I was young with little children, and a doctor asked me why I was crying. He said, "You are young. You have to think about starting over with your life because you are going to be alone; you had better think about what you are going to do because [your husband] is very sick." I responded that he was not going to die. That was my reaction, because I was so hurt by his lack of sensitivity.
I found out about PIH from a doctor many years ago. . He explained that it was a non-governmental organization that worked with severe TB patients.
I will never forget the way that the [PIH] doctor spoke with my husband. . She came close, knelt down and said to him, "It may be that you are sick, but don't get depressed because you are going to get better. We will cure you." I cried because no other doctor had touched him, not even to take his pulse.
It was so painful when I got sick, because it hit me so hard. . [Because of the treatment,] I cried every day when I woke up. The doctor said to me, "Just like you, I am very sad. My heart is broken, but you have to be strong. You have been so brave, and now, you have to continue even if it's difficult." It may be because of that doctor that I promised to finish my pills. "It doesn't matter, even if I puke my guts out," I told the doctor, "I'm going to take all of them; I won't stop."
There came a moment when I fell and couldn't get up; I weighed 70 pounds. My little children said to me, "Mommy, don't take that pill; it's bad for you; don't take it anymore." I responded that I had to do it, because I had made a pact to continue with the treatment.
I always pray for PIH because no other institution could have done what they did. They gave us the opportunity to be their patients, and I believe that is why we are alive. We see life differently now, with more appreciation. To speak of PIH is to speak of a family that receives you with open arms and makes you feel that you are important to them.
excerpt from: "venciendo la tb-mdr: 20 testimonios de expacientes con tuberculosis multidrogorresistente," or "conquering mdr-tb: stories of 20 former multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients." published by: partners in health, peru, 2006. translated into english by tiffany enriquez linaldi. |
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