Award of Excellence
Probal Rashid
ZUMA Press  

"Suruz Ali"

Suruz Ali (age 25) sits in his non-paying sick ward at the National Institute of Diseases of Chest and Hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8 November 2014. He has been in hospital for the last six months and has been suffering TB since 2012. He takes medicine home to be cured from MDR TB (Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis), but he did not continue to take it. Now he has returned to this hospital. Tuberculosis (TB) is a worldwide public health problem. The incident of TB is much higher in developing countries such as Bangladesh. The country ranks sixth among 22 highest burden TB countries in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 570000 people are currently suffering from TB disease in Bangladesh. Every year more than 300,000 people develop TB and 66,000 TB-related deaths occur in Bangladesh.