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Awareness of tuberculosis: Editorial. |
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INDIAN J TB 1989, 36, 69-70. |
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The inquiry into people's awareness of TB has largely
followed two schools of thought. The earlier conception about the
awareness of TB was centered on the extent of people's knowledge
about the disease and its characteristics, how the infection spread,
when and where it typically occurred etc. However, several studies
such as the one conducted by the NTI in rural Anantapur district
in the late '50s and which led to the formulation of the DTP, demonstrated
that, in contrast to the hypothesis, knowledge about the main features
of TB was quite high. Other, more recent studies conducted in India
and, studies from S. Korea and Japan, where socio-economic conditions
are very different, obtained similar results.
The second, more recent approach to awareness focussed
on physical suffering caused by the symptoms of TB. This approach
was highlighted by the series of NTI studies beginning with their
seminal 1963 study titled, "A sociological study of awareness
of symptoms among persons with pulmonary TB". Based on the
results, it was suggested that awareness of symptoms and action-taking,
by way of contacting institutions of modern medicine, be used as
parameters for measuring the problem of TB in the community, sociologically
and for TB programme assessment. Further, it was emphasized that
this approach must be pursued vigorously through action research
as it appeared to show great promise in breaking down the barriers
of traditional thinking, prejudices and unhelpful attitudes better
and more quickly.
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KEYWORDS: SOCIAL AWARENESS; SOCIAL ATTITUDE; INDIA. |