Dr. Lalitkumar Anande is literally on a one-man mission to spread awareness about latent tuberculosis (TB) in Mumbai.
Dr. Lalitkumar Anande is literally on a one-man mission to spread awareness about latent tuberculosis (TB) in Mumbai. The Chief Medical Officer of Sewree’s Tuberculosis Hospital has reportedly spoken to over one lakh people in the last four years by taking to the streets and engaging people in conversations about TB.
The doctor has been associated with the hospital for 27 years now. He enters crowded places like trains or bus stops and starts talking about TB with short presentations on how it can be prevented. He also talks about coughing etiquette for anyone who has TB and is out in public.
He is so dedicated to the cause that he parks his car during traffic jams and personally goes from car to car to spread awareness.
Image for representation. Photo source
“Everyone talks of active TB, people who are already suffering, facing drug resistance or side effects of medicines. But I want the city to focus on latent TB that we carry in our bodies too. We need to understand how to keep the latent bacteria lying low,” he told The Hindu.
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TB is one of the deadliest diseases in India. According to the World Health Organisation, there were 2.2 million TB patients in the year 2014 in India alone (forming a large portion of the 9.6 million patients spread across the world).
Dr. Anande’s efforts began in 2013 when Mumbai was exposed to Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. The government rejected his study but he realised that more in the country ought to know and recognise the threat that this disease poses.
Today, he even speaks at residential societies, colleges, and schools. His only goal is to reach 1.5 crore residents of Mumbai to help put an end to this deadly threat.
Truly, a worthy cause!
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