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Success Story
A public service
announcement educates
Uzbeks about TB
symptoms and treatment
A PSA Educates People With TB
Photo: Project HOPE
More than 6.000 broadcasts of this PSA
educated thousands of Uzbeks about TB
symptoms and treatment and provided
the number for an anonymous TB hotline
where Uzbeks could find out about testing
and treatment.
USAID’s TB program
designed an effective way to
educate Uzbek population
about a disease that has
become a plague for many
countries.
A public service announcement (PSA) on tuberculosis (TB)
developed by USAID enabled a young father of two to identify
his disease and obtain qualified medical help. A 35-year-old
builder named Danyor (not his real name) from a village in
Surkhandarya Province suffered from coughing, chest pain, and
general weakness for months. He had already seen
two different doctors in private clinics and taken a lot
of medication, but each time, the symptoms returned.
Danyor kept losing weight, while the cough became
more frequent. He even thought about giving up his
job, since his wife blamed it for his poor health. Then,
Danyor saw a USAID-funded PSA about tuberculosis
on local television. The symptoms described in the
commercial sounded a lot like his and he realized
he could have TB. Still, the TB stigma in Uzbek
communities is very strong, and Danyor was afraid to
disclose this disease to his friends. Instead, he called
the TB hotline suggested by the PSA to ask about
undergoing testing and treatment for tuberculosis
anonymously.
Such phone calls became more frequent after the USAID-funded
PSA was launched on regional TV stations throughout
the country. Previously, the TB treatment center received one
or two phone calls each week, but the PSA increased their
frequency to between 30 and 35 calls per week from people
across the country.
Initially, the PSA was broadcast on a non-government TV station
and its multiple branches throughout the country. The PSA
was shown 3 times a day on weekdays and 5 times a day on
weekends over a period of three months, which amounted to
6,000 broadcasts. After witnessing the impact of the PSA, the
national TB treatment center decided to adopt it for broadcasts
on the national government-run TV station so that even more
people across the country will learn about this disease, its
treatment, and prevention.
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