Impact #3: Controlling Tuberculosis in Tajikistan. Today we continue a series of ten key #USAID impacts around Central Asia this year. Tajikistan remains one of 27 countries worldwide fighting high rates of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). In 2014, 750 new cases of MDR-TB were diagnosed in Tajikistan; the World Health Organization now estimates that 1,000 new cases occur each year. Successful control depends on rapid, accurate diagnosis and case management, so that patients complete a full course of treatment. In 2013, USAID introduced the cutting-edge GeneXpert technology into Tajikistan’s Rasht Valley, which reduces the diagnostic time for MDR-TB from as much as two months to less than two hours. This year, USAID trained TB clinicians and government officials in 9 pilot districts in Rasht Valley and Khatlon Province, extending MDR-TB diagnosis and treatment access to 750,000 people – fully 10% of the country’s population. With USAID assistance, the Tajik government is drawing upon lessons learned from these pilot districts to develop a strategy to control MDR-TB nationwide.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 10:29:43 +0000
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