Why TB and other poverty related diseases?

Tuberculosis can affect all people, but it is more concentrated among the poor. There is a direct correlation between levels of poverty and the burden of TB. Malnutrition, overcrowding, poorly ventilated houses and indoor air pollution from the use of biofuels are markers of poverty and are all directly associated with TB. Poor people go hungry and live in close quarters where TB flourishes. TB decreases people’s capacity to work and, in addition, catastrophic out of pocket expenditures for TB care exacerbate their poverty. TB causes an economic loss of approximately US$110 million per year from the Kenyan economy.

TB and other poverty-related diseases have the same root causes – poverty, ignorance, lack of access to. Studies3 on the economic burden of TB document between three and four months’ work time lost annually due to Tuberculosis, and lost earnings of 20 to 30% of household income. Families of persons who die from TB lose about 15 years of income. TB and poverty are closely linked.

Malnutrition, overcrowding, poor air circulation and sanitation-factors associated with poverty; increase both the probability of becoming infected and the probability of developing TB. Together, poverty and Tuberculosis form a vicious cycle: poor people go hungry and live in close, unhygienic quarters where TB flourishes; TB decreases people’s capacity to work, and adds to treatment expenses, exacerbating their poverty.