WHY TUBERCULOSIS STILL PERSISTS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF GAPS IN DETECTION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the leading infectious causes of death despite numerous decades of control efforts worldwide and the existence of effective treatments. Limited access to essential diagnostic tools, delayed diagnosis, and the underreporting of a large number of cases remain major obstacle to effective disease control. Misconceptions regarding tuberculosis, Social prejudice, and illiteracy have discouraged individuals from having timely treatments, especially in low- and middle-income, high-burden settings. This review discusses the importance of timely tuberculosis detection, explores the reasons of ongoing delayed diagnosis, underreporting, and social perception of TB. The absence of health education campaigns and lack of culturally tailored communication plans delay engagements at the community level. The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) plays an important role in system failures for timely diagnosis, effective treatments, and post-treatment checkups of patients, exacerbating poverty and other social factors resulting in epidemics. This can be improved by using new strategies that includes introducing better diagnostic technologies, focusing on social and economic factors of disease development, stronger public health training programs, and continued vaccine research and shorter preventive treatment regimens. This review shows that tuberculosis transmission persists because of both biomedical and socio-cultural factors. Curbing it will take more than medical advances alone; it also requires equitable awareness campaigns and shorter preventive treatment regimens.