Poor hygiene, addiction to tobacco, poverty and illiteracy are attributed to be some of the main reasons for the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) among tribals in the Agency areas and the poor in urban slums in both East and West Godavari districts. A large number of tribals and general public, especially from poor backgrounds have poor personal hygiene and are addicted to smoking as well as chewing tobacco. Living in congested rooms with no proper ventilation, lack of awareness on handling health hazards due to illiteracy and working in stone crushing units in quarries are the major reasons for a large number of people becoming more vulnerable for getting infected with lung diseases including tuberculosis. People infected with HIV/AIDS are also becoming susceptible to developing TB as an opportunistic disease. In East Godavari, the prevalence of TB is more in Agency villages of Rampachodavaram. More cases are coming up from Yeleswaram as people there work in stone crushing units. The district has registered 7,198 TB in 2007 as against only 6,835 cases registered in 2006. Health authorities maintain that as they are covering a wide areas, including tribal habitations in the interior, more cases are getting detected. There are 11 treatment units, 60 microscopic centres and 2,220 DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short course) centres in the district for detection of TB cases and also to provide treatment for cure.