Addressing Stigma, Mental Well-Being, and Alcohol Use among People with Tuberculosis in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Call for an Integrated Care Model.

IF 1.6 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Pub Date : 2025-07-29 Print Date: 2025-10-01 DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.25-0048

Jonathan Izudi, Francis Bajunirwe, Adithya Cattamanchi, Nora West

{"title":"Addressing Stigma, Mental Well-Being, and Alcohol Use among People with Tuberculosis in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Call for an Integrated Care Model.","authors":"Jonathan Izudi, Francis Bajunirwe, Adithya Cattamanchi, Nora West","doi":"10.4269/ajtmh.25-0048","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with stigma, mental health issues, and alcohol use significantly affecting treatment outcomes. Stigma delays TB diagnosis, reduces treatment adherence, and disrupts care continuity. Mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, further undermine adherence, whereas alcohol use accelerates TB disease progression and leads to poor treatment outcomes. Current TB care models in SSA lack integrated support for psychosocial and behavioral health needs. This article advocates for a comprehensive care model that integrates mental health screening, counseling, psychosocial support, alcohol use disorder screening, and harm reduction strategies into TB programs. Effective implementation requires collaboration among TB care providers, mental health specialists, and alcohol use counselors supported by research, provider training, and community engagement. By addressing stigma, mental health, and alcohol use, this model can enhance treatment adherence and outcomes, advancing the WHO's End TB Strategy in SSA.</p>","PeriodicalId":7752,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","volume":" ","pages":"720-723"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12493261/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.25-0048","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/10/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"Print","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with stigma, mental health issues, and alcohol use significantly affecting treatment outcomes. Stigma delays TB diagnosis, reduces treatment adherence, and disrupts care continuity. Mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, further undermine adherence, whereas alcohol use accelerates TB disease progression and leads to poor treatment outcomes. Current TB care models in SSA lack integrated support for psychosocial and behavioral health needs. This article advocates for a comprehensive care model that integrates mental health screening, counseling, psychosocial support, alcohol use disorder screening, and harm reduction strategies into TB programs. Effective implementation requires collaboration among TB care providers, mental health specialists, and alcohol use counselors supported by research, provider training, and community engagement. By addressing stigma, mental health, and alcohol use, this model can enhance treatment adherence and outcomes, advancing the WHO's End TB Strategy in SSA.

查看原文本刊更多论文

解决撒哈拉以南非洲结核病患者的耻辱感、精神健康和酒精使用问题：呼吁采用综合护理模式。

结核病（TB）仍然是撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）的一个主要公共卫生挑战，耻辱、精神健康问题和酒精使用严重影响治疗结果。耻辱感延误结核病诊断，降低治疗依从性，并破坏护理的连续性。精神健康状况，如抑郁和焦虑，进一步破坏了依从性，而酒精使用加速了结核病的进展并导致治疗结果不佳。SSA目前的结核病治疗模式缺乏对社会心理和行为健康需求的综合支持。本文提倡一种综合护理模式，将精神健康筛查、咨询、社会心理支持、酒精使用障碍筛查和减少危害战略纳入结核病规划。有效实施需要结核病治疗提供者、精神卫生专家和酒精使用咨询师之间的合作，并得到研究、提供者培训和社区参与的支持。通过解决耻辱感、心理健康和酒精使用问题，该模式可以提高治疗依从性和结果，推进世卫组织在南撒哈拉地区的终止结核病战略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

6.20

自引率

3.00%

发文量

508

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, established in 1921, is published monthly by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. It is among the top-ranked tropical medicine journals in the world publishing original scientific articles and the latest science covering new research with an emphasis on population, clinical and laboratory science and the application of technology in the fields of tropical medicine, parasitology, immunology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, basic and molecular biology, virology and international medicine. The Journal publishes unsolicited peer-reviewed manuscripts, review articles, short reports, images in Clinical Tropical Medicine, case studies, reports on the efficacy of new drugs and methods of treatment, prevention and control methodologies,new testing methods and equipment, book reports and Letters to the Editor. Topics range from applied epidemiology in such relevant areas as AIDS to the molecular biology of vaccine development. The Journal is of interest to epidemiologists, parasitologists, virologists, clinicians, entomologists and public health officials who are concerned with health issues of the tropics, developing nations and emerging infectious diseases. Major granting institutions including philanthropic and governmental institutions active in the public health field, and medical and scientific libraries throughout the world purchase the Journal. Two or more supplements to the Journal on topics of special interest are published annually. These supplements represent comprehensive and multidisciplinary discussions of issues of concern to tropical disease specialists and health issues of developing countries