Often described as the world's most deadly infectious disease,
Tuberculosis remains a serious health threat in many parts of the world,
especially in the developing countries. One of the social barriers
hindering TB patients to seek and complete medical attention is
stigmatization. In this study, we incorporated stigmatization on a model
published by Feng et al. last 2000. We obtained the basic reproduction
number and showed conditions where multiple endemic equilibrium will
exist depending on a reinfection threshold. The model predicted a
significant increase in the basic reproduction number as the level of
stigmatization increases. We used optimal control theory to investigate
the effect of controls to combat stigmatization and compare these
controls with the usual controls such as improving treatment and
minimizing reinfection. Simulations show that although stigmatization
controls are helpful, they are not enough to successfully control the
disease. A combination of all the controls will be ideal and some
optimal rates of doing it over time are given, depending on the
perceived cost of implementation.