A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE TOWARDS TB IN GEORGIA.

TB remains to be the major public health concern in Georgia. TB awareness and knowledge is usually low in the general population, which leads to delayed referral to a medical facility, which in turn hinders timely initiation of diagnostic and treatment interventions. Lack of knowledge also contributes much to the widespread stigma in the society. The aim of the study was to qualitatively explore TB knowledge, attitudes and practice, as well as related barriers and facilitators by conducting FGDs among representatives of general population as well as TB risk groups. The qualitative data was collected through FGDs among different target groups: (1) TB patients; (2) TB contacts; (3) Injecting drug users; (4) health care providers and (5) students. FGD recordings were transcribed using a predefined coding scheme and followed by contextual analysis. According to the study results, there is a good level of TB knowledge and awareness among current/former TB patients, their contacts, and health care providers, which is linked to their practice and experience. IDUs receive sufficient information on the disease within the educational component of the Needle and Syringe program. A significant lack of TB knowledge was revealed in a segment of the general population such as students. Lack of TB knowledge among general population is highly linked to the stigmatized attitude towards TB patients. Accurate TB knowledge is an important prerequisite determining positive attitude towards the disease and supporting stigma reduction. Correct information on TB should be disseminated through all possible channels and the process should have permanent nature.