The Missing Four Million: Working to Increase the Case Finding Rate for People With TB
2019
This case study from the Western Public Health Casebook 2019 focuses on Paru Hari, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) in Bihar, India. An ASHA is essentially the backbone of India’s primary care workforce in 600,000 villages, with each individual being responsible for a village of around 1,000 occupants. Paru is involved in home visits, facilitating community member access to health facilities, administering medications, treating minor sicknesses, and generating overall health awareness. Bihar is one of the poorest states in India and also reports nearly 70,000 cases of tuberculosis per year. As an ASHA in her community, Paru grew tired of watching neighbors and friends grow sick and die of TB, especially as it is a treatable illness. She decided to act, with the help of Dr. Guru, to have TB testing and care fall under the services an ASHA provides to their community.
This case contains guidance for instructors, including learning objectives and discussion questions. It is part of a 14-case collection written by students in the MPH class of the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western University, Canada. The cases may be freely copied and used for educational purposes by an accredited educational institution.
The Missing Four Million: Working to Increase the Case Finding Rate for People With TB
Source:
Fantauzzi A et al. The Missing Four Million: Working to Increase the Case Finding Rate for People With TB. Western Public Health Casebook 2019. Public Health Casebook Publishing 2019. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/westernpublichealthcases/vol2019/iss2019/9.