Burqa Pays its part in Unhealthy Lifestyle
Dr. Thomas Stutaford
The Times (UK)
November 30, 2001

Under the Taleban, Afghan women have had to spend longer periods in overcrowded, poorly lit and ventilated houses and this will have contributed to the ease with which tuberculosis could be spread by droplet infections. When they have gone into sunlight their burqas will have restricted the amount, if any, of exposure to the sun. There is considerable evidence that vitamin B levels in the blood are not only related to the amount of sunshine, but the type of clothing worn.

Even patients with advanced cases of TB will recover if they are reasonably well fed and rested and given an appropriate selection of drugs for at least six months. It is essential that doctors in charge of cases of TB ring the changes with these drugs; otherwise resistance to the medication soon develops. Unfortunately when patients feel better they are tempted to discontinue their treatment so that resistant strains occur. When poor patients begin to recover, the temptation to sell the medication on the black market may be hard to resist.

The preponderance of women among the cases of TB in Afghanistan is no surprise, as it is they who are the least well-nourished and most likely to sell drugs in order to gain money for the benefit of their families.