Hakmiddin lives in a small village in northern Kyrgyzstan. After being diagnosed with tuberculosis several years ago, he never completed a full course of treatment because he had to return to work. As a result, he did not receive the necessary medications. There are many people who share Hakmiddin’s struggle against tuberculosis in the Kyrgyz Republic today.
Kyrgyzstan has one of the highest rates of tuberculosis in Europe. According to the latest data, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is now at 26 percent among new cases, compared to three percent of new tuberculosis cases worldwide. Drug supplies were limited and universal treatment standards were lacking in the country. According to the World Health Organization, only 55 percent of MDR-TB cases were successfully treated in 2011.
In response to this pressing challenge, USAID partnered with the Kyrgyz Republic to manage this deadly disease through improved services, diagnostics, new clinical guidelines, new outpatient treatment and care models. In 2012, led by the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Kyrgyzstan’s National Tuberculosis Program and the Ministry of Health developed new national guidelines on MDR-TB, in collaboration with the USAID-funded TB CARE I project.
The project worked with community groups and non-government organizations to ensure more equitable access to tuberculosis in the Kyrgyz Republic in addition to diagnosis, treatment and a reduction in the social stigma attached to the disease. It also provided training for health care workers and reformed health financing systems to improve tuberculosis treatment in the country.
As a result, patients are able to receive the care they need based on the type of tuberculosis they have, including full outpatient treatment. These efforts resulted in increasing the MDR-TB treatment success rate from 42 percent in 2011 to 57 percent in 2013. In 2014, USAID followed up its previous efforts and developed a five-year project, the USAID Defeat Tuberculosis project, to ease the burden of tuberculosis in the Kyrgyz Republic and strengthen its health care system.
The project offered support for quality improvement and standardization of laboratory services. To jumpstart this process, the USAID Quality Health Care Project introduced a Quality Management System in laboratory networks in Kyrgyzstan. Seventeen lab quality control specialists in Bishkek and Chui Oblast participated in relevant training sessions. Undergraduate and continuing education institutions also integrated some tuberculosis training modules with the project’s support.
Today, 30.6 percent of the population still lives below the national poverty line and 42.7 percent of the employable population is unemployed. Therefore, providing affordable tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment for patients and reducing prolonged hospitalization to ensure people’s productivity are still challenging tasks that the country needs to address in the future.
With two more years left, the USAID Defeat Tuberculosis Project will focus more on advocating childhood and adolescent tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment, as well as the prescription of child-friendly drug formulas in the country.
– Yvie Yao
Photo: Flickr