I’m a survivor, hope India will soon be TB-free: Amitabh Bachchan

“I am a tuberculosis survivor” and that is why “I took up” the cause of spreading awareness about the disease, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan said ahead of World Tuberculosis Day on Monday.

“Many ask me why I contribute towards medical cause. I have had a complicated medical history. One of the reasons I took up TB is because I am a TB survivor. In 2000, I was detected with TB and went through a rigorous treatment for almost a year. I contracted TB on the day I was going to start KBC. It was a TB of spine. It’s very uncomfortable. You cannot sit or lie down. Most of the time, I was on 8-10 pain killers a day just to survive the period when I was anchoring the show,” Bachchan said as he joined US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma, civil society and health workers for a reception ahead of World Tuberculosis Day on March 24.

He said with treatment for a year, he became free of the disease. “The reason I disclosed is that I felt that the word survivor is somehow is a very powerful word. When I say I am TB survivor, it seems like I survived a plane crash or boat sinking,” he said.