环球英语 — 520：Treating Tuberculosis
Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
Every second, someone, somewhere develops it.
Voice 4
One third of the world’s population is infected with its bacteria.
Voice 3
Every minute, three people die from it.
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But - there is a drug powerful enough to stop it.
Voice 1
What is it? TB, tuberculosis. TB is a disease caused by bacteria. The bacteria is called bacilli. It can attack any part of the body. But usually it attacks the lungs. It restricts the oxygen supply. TB often results in pneumonia. In the end, a person dies because oxygen can no longer travel around the body.
Voice 2
However, usually the body is able to fight TB bacteria to stop them growing. The immune system, the body’s natural defense system, prevents the bacteria from harming the body. The bacteria remain alive in the body, but they do not do anything. This is called TB infection. A person with TB infection cannot spread the bacteria. And they do not feel or act like they are sick. But the infection may develop into the TB disease at any time. It may happen when the immune system is weaker. For example, it may happen when a person has another sickness, like malaria, or HIV. The TB bacteria grow and develop into the disease.
Voice 1
When someone has the TB disease they can spread it to other people. TB in the lungs or throat can be very infectious. The bacteria can spread easily to other people. It spreads in the same way as the common cold - through the air. A person coughs, or sneezes. People nearby breathe in the TB bacteria. And then they become infected.
Voice 2
A person with the TB disease needs treatment. If he does not get it, he can infect another ten to fifteen people each year. And, the sad truth is that many people do not get the treatment they need. So they do infect other people. The people closest to them are most at risk - such as family members.
Voice 1
Kheair lives in the Sindh area of Southeast Pakistan. Two of his children had TB. He said,
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‘When my children were first sick we went to the hospital. We spent a lot of money on treatment. We went to specialist doctors. I spent everything. I used to have a business and a store. Now, all I have left is this home.’
Voice 2
Doctors gave Kheair’s children drugs to treat TB. After three months Kheair had no more money. The doctors said the children could stop the treatment. But the World Health Organisation says that TB patients must take the drugs for eight months - not three. The doctors did not tell Kheair this. Maybe they did not know. So the TB bacteria did not die. Instead, the bacteria changed - developed. It became stronger. Now, drugs would not be able to kill the bacteria. The disease would be able to ‘resist’ the drugs. It would become ‘drug resistant.’ Both of Kheair’s children died. But before they died they infected their sister Sangita. They also passed it to her brother Santosh.
Voice 1
Kheair did not know what to do. He did not have any more money for treatment. He heard about a church-based TB control programme. Aid group Tear Fund supports it. The programme offers people free treatment. So Kheair went to speak to them. And they were willing to help him.
Kheair’s children began treatment immediately. He said that his son Santosh is reacting well to the drugs. But the future does not look as hopeful for Sangita. Kheair said,
Voice 3
‘Sangita has had three treatments of drugs. And they have failed three times. She seems to be resistant. And she will die from TB.’
Voice 1
Imrose is the chief medical worker at the church-based project. He explained,
Voice 5
‘There is a resistant TB bacteria in Sangita. It may spread through the family. They only have two rooms. They all sleep together there. Kheair knows that he may lose another child. And he is very worried. Sangita is only eighteen. And she may die soon.’
Voice 2
Imrose has deep care and concern for his patients, like Sangita. He says,
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‘Before my work I pray with my team for my patients. I also pray with my patients - three or four times a day.’
Voice 1
Imrose loves to help patients like Sangita with their physical needs. But he also cares about their emotional and spiritual needs. He says,
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‘My Christian faith is very helpful in my work.’
Voice 1
Imrose and the other workers would like to make TB a disease of the past. It is not an impossible desire. There is an effective drug for TB. And it is powerful enough to destroy the disease.
Voice 2
The drug is called antibiotic streptomycin. Nobel scientists developed this drug in the nineteen forties. In 1944 doctors tried and tested the drug. On November the twentieth of that year, they gave the drug to a patient with severe TB. The bacteria disappeared! The patient fully recovered! It was the first time a drug had beaten the killer disease! It was life saving news. But this discovery did not reach poorer nations of the world. And over 50 years later, it still has not. The international community has reacted very slowly to the TB crisis in the developing world.
Voice 1
Why is this? Maybe it is the cost - and not just the cost of the treatment. Some people say there is also a personal cost. There is a risk in helping people with TB. Doctor Bill McKelvie is head of the TB control programme in the Sindh area. He said,
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‘We see the danger of intervening. That is all part of reaching and touching people. You cannot do this work from a distance. You must get close to people. And if you are not willing to do that, there is nothing you can do for them.’
Voice 2
Doctor Bill McKelvie compares TB with the infectious skin disease leprosy. He says both diseases begin with the same bacteria - they have the same root. And people with both diseases receive hostile treatment. Doctor McKelvie talks of the way Jesus acted with lepers in the Christian Bible. He says,
Voice 5
‘People considered lepers to be unclean. They had to cover their faces and shout, “Unclean.” Jesus reached out and touched the man with leprosy. He made him clean. Too often we are not willing to do this. Jesus did not have to touch the man. He can cure from a distance. Yet for this person, it was not just the cleansing, the curing of the disease. It was also the reaching out and touching. I want to be like Jesus. I want to reach out and touch these people.’
‘People die of TB. And they do not need to. It is a totally curable disease. The only reason we have so many deaths is that people do not care enough. They do not make sure that sufferers get the treatment they require. From the Christian beliefs of love and mercy, you just cannot let these people die.’
