Calling tuberculosis a social disease - An excuse for complacency?

摘要

In the June 28 issue of The Lancet, Ali Mohsin re-discussed the paradigm of tuberculosis as a social disease.1 The social element of tuberculosis is certainly important because there is strong evidence that tuberculosis does flourish in poverty, but this has several pitfalls. First, reservation of an exceptional social disease status for tuberculosis might, paradoxically, be detrimental, especially if the designation social suggests that poverty eradication is necessary to eliminate tuberculosis. Second, a paucity of studies show that social interventions have an effect on tuberculosis transmission and incidence. Third, associating tuberculosis with poverty is a driver of stigma in communities.