HIDDEN EPIDEMIC IN INDONESIA

AIDS patient. Website for this image

Why are so many people dying of TB in Indonesia?

Indonesia has a lot of AIDS, and that leads to TB.

Indonesia's AIDS epidemic could wreck "the big economic, political and social gains it has made in recent years."

(Indonesia's AIDS Crisis - The Diplomat)

Indonesia's government spends very little on health care and its government hospitals have been described as dirty and corrupt.

Indonesia has a thriving trade in sex and drugs, reportedly protected by the police and military.

Indonesia

According to an article entitled: HIV infection in Indonesia - AIDS:

"Indonesia is witnessing one of the most rapidly growing HIV epidemics in Asia."

"Among risk groups, rates have been reported up to 50%.

"Uptake of HIV testing is low, and many patients are only tested when they have advanced HIV infection or AIDS.

Indonesia

"All adult patients at a referral hospital who underwent cerebrospinal fluid examination for suspected meningitis were examined for HIV. (13 November 2009 - HIV infection in Indonesia - AIDS)

"Among 185 patients who mostly presented with subacute meningitis, 60% were male and the median age was 30 years."

"HIV infection was present in 25% of the patients; almost two-thirds were newly confirmed, and all presented with severe immunosuppression (median CD4 cell count 13/μl, range 2-98).

"One-third of HIV-infected patients had cryptococcal meningitis whereas two-thirds suffered from tuberculosis.

"After 1 month, 41% of patients had died."

SPREAD OF 'INCURABLE' TB

Spot the TB victim



TB exists in one in three people in the world.



It lies dormant in most of these people.



(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087273/India-reports-cases-killer-TB-strain-resistant-available-drugs.html#ixzz1jhFGbyNE)



A killer TB strain 'resistant to all available drugs' is spreading.



It has hit rich countries and poor countries.



'Untreatable TB' arrives in Britain



In 2003, two Italian women died from incurable TB.



In 2009, in Florida, a teenager was diagnosed as having drug-resistant TB.



The teenager was successfully treated for a year and a half with experimental high doses of medicines not usually used for TB, costing about $500,000.



Spot the TB victim.



We believe that untreatable TB is very widespread, having come across very many cases in South East Asia.



Experts believe there are many undocumented cases



A hospital recently tested a dozen medicines on a group of TB patients but none of the medicines worked.



A TB expert at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said certain patients do appear to be totally resistant to all available drugs.



TB is an airborne disease, mainly spread through close contact; beware of coughing and sneezing on planes.



TB is not as contagious as flu.



Leprosy is related to TB.



'Incurable' TB usually results from poor people getting poor medical treatment.



Very many patients stop taking their medicines before they are fully cured.



Ordinary TB is easily cured by taking a cocktail of expensive antibiotics for six to twelve months.



However, several things can go wrong:



1. Many of the medicines are fakes, some produced by gangs in China.



2. Many patients stop taking the medicines after a few weeks, when they begin to feel better.



3. Many patients run out of money for the medicines.



If the treatment is interrupted, the TB bacteria battle back and mutate into a stronger strain that can no longer be killed.



Their father died of TB



The World Health Organisation estimates that TB kills roughly two million people a year, but, the WHO fails to mention that very many cases in the Third World go unreported.



A person with TB may infect an average of 10 to 15 others each year.



An estimated 20 per cent of the world's drug-resistant cases are found in India.



But, in many other countries, drug-resistant cases often go unreported.



An Expert in India reported of three deceased TB patients: 'These three patients had received erratic, unsupervised second-line drugs, added individually and often in incorrect doses, from multiple private practitioners.'



The expert criticised the testing and treatment methods of the Indian government's TB program, which he says forces patients to turn to private doctors.



Government TB programs are a joke in many third world countries.



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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087273/India-reports-cases-killer-TB-strain-resistant-available-drugs.html#ixzz1jhFGbyNE



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