Tuberculosis (TB) is an ancient disease that has affected mankind for more than 4,000 years (1). It is a chronic disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis and spreads from person to person through air. TB usually affects the lungs but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as brain, intestines, kidneys, or the spine. Symptoms of TB depend on where in the body the TB bacteria are growing. In the cases of pulmonary TB, it may cause symptoms, such as chronic cough, pain in the chest, haemoptysis, weakness or fatigue, weight loss, fever, and night-sweats.TB remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, including Bangladesh. With the discovery of chemotherapy in the 1940s and adoption of the standardized short course in the 1980s, it was believed that TB would decline globally. Although a declining trend was observed in most developed countries, this was not evident in many developing countries (2). In developing countries, about 7% of all deaths are attributed to TB which is the most common cause of death from a single source of infection among adults (3). It is the first infectious disease declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global health emergency (4). In 2007, it was estimated globally that there were 9.27 million incident cases of TB, 13.7 million prevalent cases, 1.32 million deaths from TB in HIV-negative and 0.45 million deaths in HIV-positive persons (5). Asia and Africa alone constitute 86% of all cases (5). Bangladesh ranked the 6th highest for the burden of TB among 22 high-burden countries in 2007, with 353,000 new cases, 70,000 deaths, and an incidence of 223/100,000 people per year (5).Implementation of directly-observed therapy short course (DOTS) has been a 'breakthrough' in the control of tuberculosis. In many countries, it has become the cornerstone in the treatment of tuberculosis. The number of countries and the coverage of DOTS within the countries have increased over the years (5). Over the last 15 years, about 35 million people have been cured, and eight million deaths have been averted with the adoption of DOTS (6). Implementation of DOTS was started in 1993 in Bangladesh, and it gradually covered the whole country (7).Men are more commonly affected than women. The case notifications in most countries are higher in males than in females. There were 1.4 million smear-positive TB cases in men and 775,000 in women in 2004 (8). The ratio of female to male TB cases notified globally is 0.47:0.67 (9). The reasons for these gender differences are not clear. These may be due to differences in the prevalence of infection, rate of progression from infection to disease, under- reporting of female cases, or the differences in access to services.The association between poverty and TB is wellrecognized, and the highest rates of TB were found in the poorest section of the community (10). TB occurs more frequently among low-income people living in overcrowded areas and persons with little schooling (11). Poverty may result in poor nutrition which may be associated with alterations in immune function. On the other hand, poverty resulting in overcrowded living conditions, poor ventilation, and poor hygiene-habits is likely to increase the risk of transmission of TB (12).Various surveys have been conducted to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding tuberculosis (13-14). One survey in India reported that most (93%) people had heard of TB but only 20.5% of the people demonstrated sufficient knowledge of TB (13). This issue of the Journal includes an article by Rundi who explored healthcare- seeking behaviour with regard to TB among the people of Sabah in East Malaysia and the impact of TB on patients and their families (15). The author used qualitative methods and interviewed patients with TB and their relatives. It was found that most (96%) respondents did not know the cause of TB. TB also affected life-styles of the people. …