TB is thought of as more likely to spread in these low-income regions as a result of overcrowding, malnutrition, lack of proper housing ventilation, indoor air pollution and long distances to health centers.
“TB in Africa is precipitated by poverty and social conditions that elevate the risk of infection,” said Mario Raviglione, director of the STOP TB department of the WHO.
A recent study by Professor Anthony Harries, a senior advisor to the Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, showed that many patients in Malawi who tested positive for pulmonary TB had related low-income social conditions. Thirty-six percent of the patients lived in mud hut houses, 75 percent had no access to piped water, 45 percent had a monthly income of less than $10 and 92 percent had no electricity in their homes.
Another factor in the spread of the pandemic is that many patients visit traditional healers before attempting mainstream medical treatment. This causes the condition to worsen and makes the medical treatment less effective.
