Endalkachu Fakadu

In those times it was very difficult to identify whether it was resistant or not.

I was even forced to terminate my school because physically I was not that much capable enough to continue my study.

In the meantime, there was some senior internists or physicians, so they told us to do some, we call it a culture and sensitivity test in one of the national laboratories in Addis.

Most of those health professionals, they are not prone to order or prescribe such kind of test because it's not common and not even accessible.

But they gave me an opportunity just to give my sputum to do a culture and sensitivity test.

And I waited for maybe four to six months for the result.

Eventually, it ended up becoming, you know, actually resistant to the first line of TB medication.

I was lucky enough to meet one of, you know, senior internist.

He gave me the prescription.

He told me, I don't know from where you can get this medicine.

So they are very expensive.

Many people were dying, actually, including doctors, because it's unaffordable.

Like 10,000, 30,000, 50,000.

It was literally unaffordable.

So many people were even...

even though they are diagnosed with resistant BRTB, since there's no way to mobilize those kind of resource to buy those medicine, it's like a dissenters for many.

I grew up in a child support organization called Compassion International.

and through my sponsor through my mom she's from us and she bought those medicines

So that is how I got those medicine.

In those times, the medication even severe than the disease itself.