Meet the New SUPERHERO in Town Bulgam Bhai leads the fight against Tuberculosis in India

Dressed in an outrageous suit and bow tie, he sports a peculiar moustache and funny eyebrows and waits in a den in an undisclosed location with this strange, out-dated signal receiving device to catch cough sounds from all over. Doesn’t quite sound like a superhero, does he? But he is, because he’s on a mission to take tuberculosis (TB) head on!

He is none other than Bulgam Bhai. If you are baulking at his name (‘bulgam’ being the Hindi word for sputum, ughh!), allow us to explain why. Bulgam Bhai transports himself to the spot as soon as he hears anyone coughing, and asks “Do hafte ho gaye kya?”, because he knows that over two weeks of persistent cough could be TB and the person should immediately get his or her sputum tested.

And that’s the communication focus of the 360 degree Bulgam Bhai campaign that the BBC World Service Trust has created to promote sputum testing for TB diagnosis.

TB accounts for over a thousand deaths in India every day and has been in the news lately with the detection of increasingly drug resistant TB. For over a decade, Central TB Division (CTD), the nodal agency of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India (GOI) has run one of the most robust public health programmes in the country, successfully implementing the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) and achieving global standards for DOTS implementation i.e. 85% success rate for treatment and 70% success rate for case detection.

The increasing challenge of TB control encouraged GOI to call for civil society participation. The Global Fund’s quick turnaround put together a formidable response in PROJECT AXSHYA. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), key stakeholder in PROJECT AXSHYA along with CTD and World Vision India (WVI), have partnered with Population Services International (PSI) and the BBC World Service Trust (BBCWST) to design the Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilization (ACSM) framework and lead the roll out.

Research by PSI provided valuable findings -

a)  Cough not perceived to be a serious issue;

b) time spent in shopping for solutions like home remedies, approaching quacks/ chemists, going for a battery of tests leading to a worsening of condition;

c)  Low awareness of service availability.

These findings helped BBCWST to develop the communication strategy – create top-of-mind awareness about the link between two weeks of cough and TB and get people to go for sputum testing at the bulgam jaanch kendra i.e Designated Microscopy Centre (D.M.C).

The strategy called for a big, out-of-the-box, clutter-breaking idea and that has been the genesis of Bulgam Bhai. Like all superheroes, he has a costume, vocabulary and mannerisms of his own. He always introduces himself as “Myself Bulgam Bhai”, extremely proud of this unique nom de plume! He is comic and concerned and talks endlessly. He is being used across a mass media advertising campaign on TV, radio and outdoor; a radio show; street theatre performances; video van activity; and an inter-personal toolkit containing games and puzzles to be used by front line health workers and others. Through the audio-visual medium along with outdoor and toolkit items you can see Bulgam Bhai in all his splendor but the Bulgam Bhai radio show does him equal justice. He’s the quintessential ‘agony aunt’ who doles out advice to everyone ranging from Emperor Akbar, Gabbar Singh and Laila (of Laila-Majnu fame) to ordinary folks with names like Achambhilal, Chaaluram, Makaan Singh, Sakharam Sahukar and others.

“The creative challenge was to turn sputum, which is not really pleasant, on its head and come up with an idea that can over time and through exposure, gain currency of its own and rings a bell in your mind on the right thing to do, if you’ve been coughing for over two weeks. You can love or hate Bulgam Bhai, but you can’t be indifferent to him!” says Radharani Mitra, National Creative Director & Executive Producer, BBCWST, India.

In times when the fear of TB rides high, Bulgam Bhai appears at an opportune moment to create awareness and urge people to take the right course of action and hopes that the national media will join him in his crusade to stop the spread of TB in India.

As on March 31, 2012, the Trust’s expenditure of charitable activities reached £26.6 million, an increase in 33.3% from the previous year. Funded by over 40 funders, the Trust employs 500 staff worldwide. It has been operational in India for ten years. You can find out more about the work of the Trust @ www.bbcworldservicetrust.org