Conquering Tuberculosis in Peru

Friday, August 10, 2007

by Kara S. Watkins is an assistant director, bureau for marketing and development, ADRA International

“Who can tell me the symptoms of tuberculosis?” asks ADRA health educator Zaida Vizcarra, who is dressed as a bright-red apple—one of the many “supernutritious foods” that help fight off the deadly and highly contagious respiratory disease.

Zaida directs her question to more than 50 women, children, and men some in treatment for active tuberculosis, some with family members recovering from TB who have gathered in the second-floor room of a simple concrete building in Lima, Peru, for a monthly TB education class. Without adequate living space, nutritious food, water, or sanitation, staying healthy is a challenge. As part of a comprehensive ADRA TB initiative, the classes, along with projects that work to prevent the spread of TB in hospitals and increase the financial security of low-income patients and their families, are reducing the plague of TB in Lima’s poorest communities.

Sandra, a dark-haired young woman with a ponytail, stands up and answers confidently, “Fever, a wet cough that lasts more than 15 days, excessive sweating, weight loss, loss of appetite . . .” The class applauds, confirming her answer. More questions follow about balanced meals, fresh air, good hygiene, and isolating patients—all keys in recovering from and preventing the spread of TB.

Diagnosed with TB eight months ago, Sandra began attending ADRA’s meetings here at the Community and Health Center, a hub of activity in Micaela Bastidas, an impoverished neighborhood in eastern Lima. The information she has learned has played a pivotal role in rebuilding her health.

ADRA educators, such as Zaida Vizcarra (center), dress in costumes to remind workshop participants to eat healthy foods.

“Before I got sick, I didn’t think about my health, and the meals I ate were not balanced; I didn’t eat enough vegetables,” she says. “ADRA taught me how to prepare nutritious meals that helped me regain my strength and fight the TB.”

In Lima, a city of more than eight million inhabitants, the poorest and most rapidly expanding communities such as Micaela Bastidas—known as pueblos jovenes, or young towns—struggle with unusually high rates of TB. Most families live in close quarters without running water or electricity in houses hastily constructed of discarded lumber, tin, and cardboard. Without adequate living space, nutritious food, water, or sanitation, staying healthy is a challenge.

Having seen friends and loved ones suffer and die from TB, class participants crave to know more about this disease. They sit in rapt attention, absorbing the information shared by ADRA educators and enthusiastically answering questions. Occasional muffled coughs punctuate the lecture.

As the quiz finishes, preparations begin for the day’s final activity—a hands-on cooking demonstration.

Sandra and a dozen other women converge on tables stocked with kitchen tools and ingredients. After washing hands and donning aprons, they dive into their tasks: peeling vegetables, browning lean meat over a camp stove burner, and tossing a colorful salad. Heady aromas swirl up from the saucepans, and soon steaming plates of TB-fighting “superfoods” appear on the front table.

The women take turns explaining the health benefits of the dishes: guisado de lentejas (lentil stew), tallarin con hígado de pollo (noodles with chicken liver and mixed vegetables), locro de zapallo (butternut squash with corn, boiled eggs, and rice), and a colorful ensalada (salad) with carrots, cucumbers, and ripe tomatoes. All agree that these healthy selections are inexpensive, easy to make, and quite tasty, too.

Most of us never think about TB; this “silent killer” has been under control in the United States and Europe for decades. Yet, in developing countries such as Peru, it continues to claim lives. In fact, more than 1.6 million people worldwide die from this disease each year.

According to current World Health Organization figures, about 45,000 new cases of TB are diagnosed in Peru each year, and more than 5,000 Peruvians die. Nearly half of the country’s TB patients live in Lima. But ADRA is making a difference in many neighborhoods.

Will you help?

If treated properly, TB is curable. However, many people mistake the symptoms of TB for those of a bad cold and do not seek medical attention, placing their family members and neighbors at risk. Equally traumatic, many TB patients face discrimination and often lose their jobs.

In response, ADRA’s TB support network includes business training and small loans to TB patients and their families. With as little as $30 in seed money, they can open a clothing shop, a juice stand, a small café, or even a bicycle repair shop. As independent business owners, patients regain self-esteem, earn money to support their families, and improve their prospects for a healthy, stable future.

Limited by budget constraints and staffing shortages, Peru’s Ministry of Health relies on ADRA to reach highrisk communities. ADRA’s TB education classes and microloan programs have made a significant impact in Lima’s vulnerable areas; over the past year, ADRA has brought positive change and hope to more than 4,000 people in dozens of health centers throughout the city. But many more are dealing with this disease without ADRA’s vital support.

Will you help ADRA reach the tens of thousands of Lima’s at-risk families desperate to learn how to protect themselves from tuberculosis and care and provide for their loved ones who already have it?

With your generous support, we can help these families conquer TB.