TUBERCULOSIS IN NEW ENTRANTS TO LONDON: THE PATIENTS'' PERSPECTIVE

Tuberculosis (TB) is a public health problem. In the United Kingdom (UK), TB rates began to increase in 1988 but have since levelled off, except in London, where the increase has been much more dramatic and has not subsided. A high proportion of TB in London (over 40%) is in new entrants to the country from high prevalence areas of the world. New entrants may experience difficulties in accessing health care, leading to delays in diagnosis. Socio-cultural factors may also influence their interaction with services after diagnosis and potentially affect treatment outcome. There are uncertainties as to the best approach for screening new entrants for TB and along with other patients there is a need to ensure that they are adequately treated once diagnosed. In order to deal with TB in new entrant groups we need to understand their views on issues such as screening for TB, their understanding of the cause of TB, their treatment seeking practices, difficulties experienced in treatment and issues such as stigma and TB. This research has succeeded in answering these questions in order to inform TB services.