le tuberculosis is contagious, the disease is not easily contracted through casual and infrequent contact with infected individuals (Conspicuous consumption, 1993, pp. 6-7). Lengthy and repeated contact with an individual infected with tuberculosis is required to produce a tuberculosis infection, particularly among individuals whose immune function is impaired. The conditions required for tuberculosis infection, unfortunately, frequently are found among the homeless and other economically disadvantaged population groups (Conspicuous consumption, 1993, p. 6).
Effective treatments for tuberculosis are available (Conspicuous consumption, 1993, p. 8). Of particular significance with respect to the spread of tuberculosis is that, once "patients have taken their medications regularly for a few weeks, the lose their capacity to infect others if the TB strain is sensitive to these drugs" (Conspicuous consumption, 1993, p. 8). Problems arise, however, for both society and tuberculosis- infected individuals when the infected individuals fail to comply with prescribed treatment. For society, the risk of a further spread of the disease increases. For the tuberculosis-infected individual, treatment non-compliance dramatically increases the risk of premature death (Datta, Radhamani, Selvaraj, Paramasivan, Gopalan, Suddeendra, and Prabhakar, 1993, pp. 180-186; Goble, Iseman, Madsan, Waite, Ackerson, and Horsburgh, 1993, pp 527- 532).
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