TB hospital to get full-time psychiatrists

MUMBAI: A spate of suicide attempts at the Sewri TB Hospital has prompted the authorities to recruit four full-time psychiatrists for its 1000-odd patients. The Asia's biggest tuberculosis facility had so far been scraping by using one counsellor sent by an NGO.

On Monday, a 27-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh, undergoing treatment for multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB, tried to commit suicide by strangulating herself with a mobile phone charger wire. The Azamgarh resident had been hospitalized for the past five months and was reportedly upset over being told that her treatment duration could exceed one year. Unlike most other patients, her husband has been by her side throughout the treatment and was sleeping right outside the ward when she tried to kill herself.

Authorities at the hospital however refused to blame her actions on her MDRTB medication and maintained that she could have been depressed. "It is a chronic condition that can leave most patients frustrated. Keeping that in mind, we have made a proposal to create four posts for counsellors," said a senior doctor from the hospital. He added that discussions have already been carried out with the higher civic authorities.

Less than a fortnight ago, a 27-year-old MDR TB patient killed himself at the hospital by slitting his throat with a blade. Three suicides have already been reported in the hospital this year underlining the urgent need for counsellors.