This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY).
OPINION
Professional stigmatization of specialists in tuberculosis care: ethical analysis and ways to overcome it
Compliance with ethical standards: the paper does not contain results of studies involving patients, healthy volunteers, or animals conducted by the authors; approval from the local ethics committee was not required. The case studies presented in the paper are generalized and depersonalized, do not contain information that would allow for the identification of specific patients or healthcare professionals, and are provided solely as illustrative examples to conduct ethical analysis.
- World Health Organization. Protecting human rights, ethics and equity for tuberculosis patients. Geneva: WHO. Available from URL: https://www.who.int/europe/activities/protecting-human-rights-ethics-and-equity-for-tuberculosis-patients (accessed: 21.09.2026).
- Federal’noye gosudarstvennoye byudzhetnoye nauchnoye uchrezhdeniye «Tsentral’nyy nauchno-issledovatel’skiy institut tuberkuloza» (TSNIIT). Istoriya instituta. Moskva. TSNIIT. Available from URL: https://critub.ru/history/ (accessed: 21.09.2026). Russian.
- Glonti K. Specialized and inpatient services. In: Rechel B, Richardson E, McKee M, editors. Trends in health systems in the former Soviet countries. Copenhagen: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. Observatory Studies Series. 2014; 35.
- Courtwright A, Turner AN. Tuberculosis and stigmatization: pathways and interventions. Public Health Rep. 2010; 125 (Suppl 4): 34–42. PubMed PMID: 20626191.
- Bodur MS, Cil B. A Research on Healthcare Professionals’ Stigma Towards Tuberculosis Patients. Thorac Res Pract. 2025; 26 (3): 88–96. PubMed PMID: 39930730.
- Boulanger RF, Hunt MR, Benatar SR. Where Caring Is Sharing: Evolving Ethical Considerations in Tuberculosis Prevention Among Healthcare Workers. Clin Infect Dis. 2016; 62 (Suppl 3): S268– S274. PubMed PMID: 27118857.
- Chelnokova OG, Golovanova MN, Senin IG. Osobennosti vospriyatiya problemy tuberkuleza vrachami pervichnogo zvena zdravookhraneniya. Tuberkuloz i bolezni legkikh. 2020; 98 (1): 41–45. DOI: 10.21292/2075-1230-2020-98-1-41-45. Russian.
- World Health Organization. WHO ethics guidance for the prevention, care and control of tuberculosis [Internet]. Geneva: WHO. Available from URL: https://www.who.int/publications/i/ item/9789240073852 (accessed: 21.09.2026).
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How TB Spreads. Atlanta: CDC. Available from URL: https://www.cdc.gov/tb/ causes/index.html (accessed: 21.09.2026).
- World Health Organization. Should a newborn be separated from a mother who has TB? Geneva: WHO. TB Knowledge Sharing Platform. Available from URL: https://tbksp.who.int/en/node/2090 (accessed: 21.09.2026).
- World Health Organization. Social determinants of tuberculosis. Geneva: WHO. Available from URL: https://www.who.int/teams/ global-programme-on-tuberculosis-and-lung-health/populations-comorbidities/social-determinants (accessed: 21.09.2026).
- World Health Organization. Preventing violence against health workers [Internet]. Geneva: WHO. Available from URL: https://www. who.int/activities/preventing-violence-against-health-workers (accessed: 21.09.2026).
- Amare D, Getahun FA, Mengesha EW, Dessie G, Shiferaw MB, Dires TA, Alene KA. Effectiveness of healthcare workers and volunteers training on improving tuberculosis case detection: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2023; 18 (3): e0271825. PubMed PMID: 36952429.
- Sosa LE, Njie GJ, Lobato MN, et al. Tuberculosis Screening, Testing, and Treatment of U. S. Health Care Personnel: Recommendations from the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association and CDC, 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019; 68 (19): 439–443.
- World Health Organization. Person-centred care for tuberculosis [Internet]. Geneva: WHO, TB Knowledge Sharing Platform. Available from URL: https://tbksp.who.int/en/node/3044. (accessed: 21.09.2026).