Social Determinants of Tuberculosis: Unpacking the Triad of Poverty, Stigma, and Social Exclusion

  • Unique Paper ID: 189468
  • Volume: 12
  • Issue: 7
  • PageNo: 6679-6697
  • Abstract:
  • Tuberculosis (TB) persists as a global health crisis, disproportionately affecting marginalised populations. This review argues that TB is a biosocial disease, driven not merely by a pathogen but by a syndemic of social determinants. We analyse the synergistic interaction of a triad poverty, stigma, and social exclusion that creates a vicious cycle of vulnerability. Poverty fosters malnutrition and overcrowded housing, increasing biological susceptibility and transmission. Stigma acts as a social toxin, delaying diagnosis and undermining treatment adherence. Social exclusion, rooted in structural inequities, concentrates these risks in populations like Indigenous communities and migrants. This triad disrupts the entire TB care cascade, rendering purely biomedical interventions insufficient. We conclude that ending TB requires a paradigm shift towards integrated “social prescriptions,” including social protection, stigma reduction, and structural reforms, to dismantle this interconnected web of disadvantage and achieve health equity.

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

BibTeX

@article{189468,
        author = {C. J. SONOWAL},
        title = {Social Determinants of Tuberculosis: Unpacking the Triad of Poverty, Stigma, and Social Exclusion},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {6679-6697},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=189468},
        abstract = {Tuberculosis (TB) persists as a global health crisis, disproportionately affecting marginalised populations. This review argues that TB is a biosocial disease, driven not merely by a pathogen but by a syndemic of social determinants. We analyse the synergistic interaction of a triad poverty, stigma, and social exclusion that creates a vicious cycle of vulnerability. Poverty fosters malnutrition and overcrowded housing, increasing biological susceptibility and transmission. Stigma acts as a social toxin, delaying diagnosis and undermining treatment adherence. Social exclusion, rooted in structural inequities, concentrates these risks in populations like Indigenous communities and migrants. This triad disrupts the entire TB care cascade, rendering purely biomedical interventions insufficient. We conclude that ending TB requires a paradigm shift towards integrated “social prescriptions,” including social protection, stigma reduction, and structural reforms, to dismantle this interconnected web of disadvantage and achieve health equity.},
        keywords = {Health Equity; Malnutrition and TB; Social Determinants of Health; Stigma to TB; Tuberculosis burden; Vulnerable Populations to TB.},
        month = {December},
        }

Cite This Article

SONOWAL, C. J. (2025). Social Determinants of Tuberculosis: Unpacking the Triad of Poverty, Stigma, and Social Exclusion. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology (IJIRT). https://doi.org/doi.org/10.64643/IJIRTV12I7-189468-459

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