Social Effects of Tuberculosis on Business of Health Care

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a chronic contagious illness, is the cause of tuberculosis (TB). This illness is regarded as one of the leading global causes of death. (Ali et al., 2013). It is a primary infection that can transmit from one person to another by way of microscopic Mycobacterium tuberculosis droplets that are released into the air through coughing and sneezing, especially in poorly ventilated spaces. The likelihood of contracting tuberculosis does not always rely on prior infection with other infectious pathogens, but it can easily affect those people who are living with HIV/AIDS since the HIV deteriorates the immune system of a person to a point that it cannot fight the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this case, it is referred to as an opportunistic disease (Morris et al., 2013).

Social Effects of Tuberculosis on Business of Health Care and Use of Resources

According to Ali et al. (2013), the Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects one-third of the population of the world and it one of a single cause of deaths among the young adults. This makes the disease to highly hinder the economic development in various countries since it largely affects the most productive age group, 15-54 years, with many deaths taking place in the developing countries hence largely creating the burden on countries from sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Despite the accessibility of effective drugs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis for more than the last 50 years, still, there is a high number of people who are infected and die from tuberculosis (Ali et al., 2013). Very large amount of money has been in the last years pumped into the prevention, control and curative of tuberculosis, an issue which has led to the suspension of some developmental projects in favor of fighting Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The direct and immediate funds used to diagnose and treat TB patients from poor families’ carters for the direct costs of the TB management. For the privately owned hospitals, the increasing cases of TB in the contemporary can be viewed as a business opportunity since they will be having very many patients, both outpatients, and inpatients, who come to seek for the medical attention. When it comes to the governmentally owned hospitals, especially those which offer free TB diagnosis, it will instead create the financial burden on the government (Morris et al., 2013). The rural populations are faced with a lot of health systems related barriers since the diagnosis depends on effective and reliable transport and communication systems between the rural health care facilities and the ultramodern hospitals located in towns. The financial costs for treating tuberculosis is very high and the poor patients, those from rural areas, in particular, can lead to further spiraling into poverty which will affect the economic status of such regions. If the economy is poor, the level of business activities will be largely reduced (Ali et al., 2013).

The tuberculosis patients have undergone through a lot of economic challenges which have affected their lives, more so after diagnosis. In some cases, Morris et al. (2013) reported that there was some TB patient who went through forced pay-cuts after being ill with TB while somewhere laid off after they were diagnosed. This is directly linked to their demanding medication schedules hence will have less time dedicated to work. The tuberculosis patients have faced a lot of financial and social discrimination, a factor which has made them not to freely and effectively use their available resources. According to Ali et al. (2013), a great economic losses do take place due to indirect costs, that encompass the cost resulting from losing personnel, traveling to health facilities, selling assets to have enough money for tuberculosis treatment, and mostly, losing productivity as a result of illness and premature deaths.

Based on the fact that the tuberculosis disease is a contagious disease, the patients do suffer from a lot of stigmas which does not enable them to freely socialize with the other people. This can be a big blow to an entrepreneur who suffers from tuberculosis infections since not many customers will be will to buy from them (Morris et al., 2013). According to Ali et al. (2013), the treatment of tuberculosis requires prolonged therapy, which can run up to at least six months, with multiple and potentially toxic drugs that can lead to adverse reactions in a significant number of patients. When the reactions become adverse, it means that much financial support will be required to save the patients from the uncertainty. Whenever the effects of tuberculosis influence their income due to limited economic activity participation in the community, the patients will be forced to turn to family members or friends for financial assistance, therefore increasing the high dependency ration between the patients and the family members (Morris et al., 2013).

Conclusion

The cost of tuberculosis management is very high thus increasing the level of poverty, more so among those patients who come from very poor backgrounds. In most of the developing countries, there are initiatives to help the TB patients undergo their diagnosis at lower rates, but in situations where such subsidies are not available, the patients will have to pump a lot of finances to facilitate their treatment. A move which sounds good for the business-minded hospitals. A lot of resources are being used to facilitate the management of the TB, resources which can be used, if the cases of TB were not there, to undertake some developmental programs. It is therefore important to note that TB has a lot of social effects, such as on business of health care and use of resources.

References

Ali, M., Mallik, S., Mehra, R., Kumar, P., & Garg, A. (2013). Effect of Social Factors on Tuberculosis Patients: A Comprehensive Illness Behaviors Study. International Journal of Research in Ayurveda and Pharmacy, 4(1), 123-126.

Morris, M., Quezada, L., Bhat, P., Moser, K., Smith, J., & Perez, H. et al. (2013). Social, economic, and psychological impacts of MDR-TB treatment in Tijuana, Mexico: a patient’s perspective. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 17(7), 954-960.