DUSHANBE, 28.04.2021 (NIAT Khovar) – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Eliminating Tuberculosis (TB) in Central Asia Project donated technical TB detection equipment to Tajikistan’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population and the Medical Department of the Main Directorate of the Penitentiary System in the Ministry of Justice to commemorate World TB Day and advance bilateral joint efforts to end TB in Tajikistan.

The equipment included smartphones and tablets for mobile TB case detection and treatment, video conferencing devices, and climate control equipment, which will be used by outreach workers and primary health care staff. The equipment will improve TB case detection, increase adherence to treatment, and update healthcare provider TB knowledge and skills, which will be especially useful to healthcare providers in Tajikistan’s remote areas. The video-conferencing equipment will be used to train TB medical personnel of correctional institutions as well as provide access to conferencing with other TB specialists to evaluate patients and prescribe treatment regimens while patients remain in prison.

Tajikistan is among the World Health Organization’s designated 30 countries with a high burden of drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. There are an estimated 7,700 active TB cases in Tajikistan, which causes approximately 730 TB deaths each year.

Representatives of USAID Tajikistan, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Population, the Republican Center of TB Control, representatives of the National Coordination Council to Fight TB, HIV and Malaria, and development partners participated in the handover event.

“Our assistance and cooperation help ensure that people receive the right treatment at the right time. USAID supports improved health care in Tajikistan, and together, we are building a bright future,” stated in his remarks USAID/Tajikistan Acting Mission Director Keith Simmons.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the U.S. Government, the Government of Tajikistan, and international partners, Tajikistan has made great strides in reducing TB incidence and mortality. USAID works to reduce the burden of TB in Tajikistan and Central Asia by strengthening local and regional capacities to improve detection and treatment of the multidrug resistant TB.