Lung of Darkness: a tale of tuberculosis
in tanzania

“I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky—seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.” (Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness)

In less than one week’s time, I (along with Sam Wing and Tom Koerner) will embark for the banks of Eastern Africa.

While the three of us aren’t quite diving into the savage wilderness of Joseph Conrad’s novel that sparknotes brought to life for me, there are surely some primitive goings-on in parts of Africa. One area in desperate need of improvement is the healthcare system. While we have our own score of healthcare problems in America, much of the African population is stuck with the lowest levels of healthcare that cause millions of deaths each year.

With this in mind, let’s look at the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in Tanzania. Tuberculosis is a well-known infectious and highly contagious disease that has been around for hundreds of years and can be easily treated with a course of antibiotics. This being true, it has been nearly eliminated in much of the “western” world. But throughout Africa (and Eastern Europe, and Asia), the disease snuffs out hundreds of thousands of lives each year (2009 being one such year!), sped along by co-infection with HIV/AIDS. Our hypothesis is that many of the deaths that occur in Tanzania each year occur as a result of the lack of proper knowledge and practices regarding the disease and its spread. While governments and non-profits can throw truckloads of drugs and aid money at the situation, any effect will be severely dampened by the lack of active grassroots knowledge and support of health improvement.

It is because of this that we three students and travelers set off to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Tanzanian healthcare workers and patients regarding tuberculosis infection control. Our hopes are that we will allow non-profits such as PATH, with whom we are working, to more effectively target key need areas in order to reduce the tuberculosis death rate and promote fulfilled lives.

-June 17, 2009