Sanat Alemi is one of the civil society organizations (CSOs) supported by the Improved TB/HIV prevention & care – Building models for the future project which gives support to TB patients and their relatives. Founded in 2016 in Almaty, Kazakhstan by a group of ex multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant TB patients, they quickly showed successes through their established self-support groups as well as one-to-one TB patient support. Sanat Alemi is also implementing several community-based activities such as social mobilization, advocacy, and communication to improve TB literacy among people affected by TB, TB/HIV, AIDS and other socially significant diseases (drug abuse, alcoholism, etc), aiming at reducing stigma, discrimination.
Success is possible with trust and professionals
“The social support for TB patients plays a key role in increasing adherence to the treatment. The success in treatment is possible with the combination of trust, human relationships and the support of professionals, such as a psychologist and social worker,” the current director of Sanat Alemi Roza Idrisova is saying.
A TB patient and client of Sanat Alemi Sultanmurat did not know anything about tuberculosis, except that it was a dangerous disease.
“I was horrified when I heard I had TB. I could not even imagine how I got it. I started coughing blood which was so scary, but I did not suspect that it could be TB,” he says. “I thought that the pain was caused by my liver or another internal organ. I told about this to my mother, as she is my closest relative. The other relatives reacted with understanding and this helped me a lot.”
What does not kill us makes us stronger
Sultanmurat wanted to get cured no matter what but the treatment was difficult. In the beginning, he could not tolerate the drugs, and he developed allergies.
“I struggled and tried not to miss a single day of medications and injections. I heard about Sanat Alemi from other patients and started to attend their self-support groups. Receiving support from other patients and social workers during treatment is of great help and being able to join trainings and meetings with different specialists is very useful and gives a lot of interesting information. I had the opportunity to ask questions that I had for a long time. I believe that in the future Sanat Alemi will keep the same spirit and will support many other TB patients,” Sultanmurat says. “TB completely changed my life. I started to appreciate life and learned to tolerate the sickness. I started to appreciate and love my relatives even more as they proved once again that they are there for me and that they would never give up on me during difficult times.”
Sultanmurat would like to say to other TB patients that this disease is curable like many other diseases. The most important thing is to follow the treatment, take pills without interruption, eat well and do sports. It is also important to be friendly, always and everywhere provide support and assistance to other people with TB. The most important thing is to believe in the best, in your recovery and do not forget that what does not kill us makes us stronger.
