TB+

Tuberculosis, commonly refered to as TB, is often thought to be a 'disease of the past'. But it has re-emerged as a global threat, with one third of the world's population latently infected. Not all forms of TB are contagious. Only people with lung TB are infectious. Like the common cold, it spreads through the air. A person with untreated TB can infect 10-15 people in a single year by coughing near them. Anyone can get TB, but the disease is strongly linked to poverty and malnutrition. TB is a leading cause of death among people living with HIV. Every 18 seconds, someone dies of TB in the world. In December 2007/January 2008 I travelled to Pieri, South-Sudan, to photograph a small MSF field clinic. The TB regimen requires several daily doses for six to nine months. Therefore, to ensure and supervise the regimen, the MSF clinic in Pieri is designed for in-house treatment of TB. TB+ is meant to give a human face to the disease Tuberculosis. Who are these patients? How has TB affected their lives? And where do they normally live if healthy? Therefore I mixed 'classical' portraits of the patients with images of their immediate surroundings: the village life, the vast landscape they live in, and images of fellow Nuer tribesmen with their cattle. But above all, TB+ is a small tribute to the impressive Sudanese people I have met during my stay in Pieri.