World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is only a brief 24 hours in March, but marking this day gives the global community a chance to consider the incredible impact of this infectious disease and what each of us is doing to stop it. The day also affords space to reflect on how each of us as individuals, organizations, and governments can join together in action.
This year the team focused on Infectious Disease products at DNA Genotek, created a game to educate the rest of the company about TB, its spread, prevention, and what we can do as a company and as individuals to stop the stigmatization of TB patients. We called our game “The Outbreak,” which mimicked how TB is transmitted from one person to another. The game started with 10 patient “zeros” who were given a token representing live TB*; tokens represented drug-susceptible, multi-drug-resistant or extra multi-drug resistant strains of the bacteria.
At the end of the morning, after all the tokens had been distributed, the company came together to find out what the tokens meant and to receive a brief presentation from our VP and Director of Infectious Diseases, Cassandra Kelly-Cirino and Andy Stewart, about TB prevention and patient stigmatization. At the presentation, groups were divided according to their tokens. Individuals with active TB tokens were given medical masks to cover their faces to demonstrate the protection measures that TB patients should take when they are in contact with other people. Employees quickly felt the stigma associated with people wearing a mask in public.
The goal of re-enacting the spread of TB was to teach DNA Genotek employees about the severity of the illness, the indiscriminate way it infects people, and prevention methods everyone can use. Some were surprised to learn that TB is even prevalent in Canada.
Our employees were better able to understand how easily TB is spread from one individual to the next, learn more about the various strains of TB, and comprehend the grueling process of undergoing treatment.
Throughout the afternoon, we asked our colleagues to tell us, by writing on a bristle board, what they had learned from playing “The Outbreak” and what their main perceptions of TB and TB patients were after participating in the game. Several common lessons were highlighted:
- TB is everywhere and can affect anyone;
- The TB stigma associated with patients is unfair;
- Patients should receive more emotional support; and
- Accurate diagnosis is key.
Although there is a long way to eradicate TB, we, as a company, are here to stand up against TB and do our part in the fight to end this disease! From our TB products OMNIgene•SPUTUM and prepIT•MAX to every single one of our employees, DNA Genotek is here to Unite in the Fight to End TB!
