Patna: Tuberculosis patients shared their agony about being neglected by society at a programme organised by non-government organisation REACH on Thursday.

A tuberculosis survivor talked about initial hurdles before and post diagnosis of the disease. Sudeshwar Singh said when he was detected with TB in 2010, his family members were not that worried but others made him feel that he would die any moment.

"I belong from a well-educated family and my family members are well aware that TB patients can get rid of the disease if right treatment is provided to the patient. However, I had people mainly among my relatives who would come to me and sympathise soon after the detection of TB. I was already married then and had a two-year-old child. People would come over to my place and would ask me whether I had got some life insurance scheme or not so that my family becomes secured. I was working in the development sector and I knew that TB could be cured, so this type of behaviour didn't affect me much. I completed my drug course and now I am completely cured of the disease. Now people who used to symphathise with me send TB patients to me for my advice on how I won over the disease," said Sudeshwar, adding that he along with 13 other TB survivors had made a network which now works for TB control programme.

Another TB survivor, Satyendra Nath Jha, said initially when he went for diagnosis in private centres, at many places the report came negative. "A privately practising doctor in Patna even said that the upper portion of my lung had been completely damaged and I required an operation for getting rid of the problem and the surgery would cost me around Rs 7-8 lakh. I was shocked to get this type of advice from the doctor. I asked the doctor whether this surgery was available at other place to which he replied this was also available in Delhi. I asked the doctor to refer me to a Delhi facility. When I got myself tested in Delhi, I was diagnosed with multi-drug resistance tuberculosis. When I came back at home after starting treatment at Delhi, I only got my family's support. My friends and other acquaintances had left me in that situation," said Jha. He asked TB patients to have faith on government health facilities for their diagnosis and treatment and also complete their drug course.

"Those who are diagnosed with the disease don't disclose their status to others. This is wrong because in a way you are causing further spread of the disease," added Jha.