This may be because many people believe that TB is brought on by wrong-doing. Ex-TB patients are less likely than average to find marriage partners in West Bengal. Illiterate respondents were found to have the most misconceptions about TB, in one study. Many TB patients are predictably reluctant to talk about the disease, and often give wrong names and addresses to avoid being exposed as TB patients before their acquaintances. Gender Women TB patients face special difficulties, especially if they are married.
Women tend to delay care-seeking until they are too ill to do their normal chores.
Their time is often not their own, nor do they have as much control over family finances as men do. Unmarried girls with TB fear that they might never find a spouse. Women are typically less well placed than men to ensure their own cure . This forms a substantial proportion of the annual income of a daily wage labourer, estimated at about USD 200. Private individuals are the main purchasers of TB treatment in India .