Tuberculosis remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. It is transmitted through the air when a person with active tuberculosis coughs, sneezes or talks. It often affects the lungs, but can also spread to other parts of the body. The disease is treatable and curable, but a late diagnosis can expose families, neighbors, colleagues and entire communities.
Education therefore plays an essential role in the management of tuberculosis. Zanmi Lasante helps people recognize the signs of the disease, understand when to seek care, and know that treatment must be followed through, even when symptoms diminish. Through 12 tuberculosis care sites, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and Population and the National Tuberculosis Control Program, ZL combines screening, testing, treatment initiation, follow-up and social support for patients facing obstacles during their care. Over the past five years, ZL has screened over 15,000 people for tuberculosis and successfully treated over 8,000 patients. In 2025 alone, more than 3,200 patients were screened and put on treatment.
These figures represent people who were able to access care before the disease further degraded their health. They represent families who received clear information to better understand what was happening. They also represent patients who needed more than medication to see them through months of treatment.
A person with tuberculosis can start to feel better after a few weeks of treatment. This improvement brings relief, but it can also create dangerous confusion. Some patients may believe they are cured and stop medication too soon. Others may stop treatment because they can’t afford to visit the clinic regularly, because food is in short supply, because they fear being identified as a TB patient, or because they feel too weak to continue unaccompanied.
Stopping treatment early may allow the infection to return. It can also increase the risk of drug-resistant tuberculosis, a more difficult and costly form to treat. For patients and families already facing severe economic constraints, incomplete treatment can turn a curable disease into a more serious medical and social crisis.
Zanmi Lasante’s approach addresses this reality. Health workers don’t just hand out medicines. They explain the disease in simple words. They encourage people to seek help quickly when symptoms appear. They help patients understand that tuberculosis requires several months of treatment. They provide follow-up, advice and, where possible, social support, as information alone is not always enough to overcome the practical obstacles that prevent patients from completing their treatment.
This work also helps to reduce stigma. The stigma attached to tuberculosis can cause a person to hide their symptoms, avoid screening or stop treatment in silence. Some patients fear rejection by family, neighbors or colleagues. Others fear that their diagnosis will be perceived as a personal fault, rather than as an illness that requires care. In communities where rumors circulate quickly, fear can delay seeking care as much as lack of resources.
Community education can change this reality. People need to hear clearly that tuberculosis is a medical disease, that it can affect anyone, and that it can be cured with appropriate treatment. Families need to understand that supporting a patient during treatment also protects the home and community. Communities need to hear simple messages repeated by trusted health workers, local leaders and religious leaders: a persistent cough must be assessed, early detection protects others, treatment must be completed and TB must not be a source of shame.
For Zanmi Lasante, TB education is part of a broader commitment to accessible, patient-centered care in Plateau Central and Artibonite. Many patients live with several difficulties at the same time, including poverty, food insecurity, transportation costs, precarious housing conditions and other health problems such as HIV. These realities make the management of tuberculosis more complex. They also make ZL’s integrated model indispensable.
A patient who arrives at a clinic with a cough needs more than a test result. He needs a health worker who takes his symptoms seriously. He needs clear information. He needs available treatment. He needs follow-up that helps him stay in care. He needs support that recognizes the real cost of illness in a country where many families already live on very little margin.
Tuberculosis is curable. This information needs to reach people before fear, shame, misconceptions or financial difficulties drive them away from care.
Through its tuberculosis services, Zanmi Lasante continues to strengthen prevention, screening, treatment and follow-up in communities where access to care can determine whether a curable disease becomes fatal. Every patient who completes treatment helps reduce transmission. Every person who recognizes symptoms earlier helps protect others. Every conversation that reduces stigma makes it easier for someone else to seek care.
The fight against tuberculosis in Haiti depends on medical treatment. It also depends on trust, information and sustainable support. Zanmi Lasante teams take this work to hospitals, health centers and communities, every day.
Your support helps Zanmi Lasante to continue screening, treating, monitoring and accompanying TB patients in communities where rapid access to care can save lives. A donation helps patients complete treatment, reduces TB transmission and strengthens access to essential healthcare services in Haiti.