DUSHANBE, March 20, 2010, Asia-Plus — On March 19, Jeffrey Lehrer, Country Director of the United States Agency for International Development and Deputy Minister of Health Sohibnazar Rahmonov held a press conference on the prevention and control of tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV co-infection and the joint steps that have been taken by the Government of Tajikistan and the U. S. Government to protect people from this infectious disease.
Jeffrey Lehrer highlighted the ongoing U.S. assistance to Tajikistan in the area of tuberculosis prevention and control. Beginning in 2004, this assistance, valued at over 3 million USD, has achieved measurable results. USAID currently supports the Ministry of Health with Health Outreach Program to increase coverage of Most at Risk Population (MARPs) through the use of monitoring and evaluation tools, as well as best practices providing the full complex of prevention, diagnostic and treatment friendly services on TB and HIV/AIDS.
At the press conference, Deputy Minister of Health Sohibnazar Rahmonov explained that the Ministry’s ability to detect cases of tuberculosis has significantly increased since Tajikistan adopted internationally accepted procedures. As a result, the accepted rate of tuberculosis infection in Tajikistan is 80.4 cases per 100,000 people in 2009. The mortality rate has so far remained stable at 6.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year.
The press conference members noted that the media play an important role in tuberculosis control by helping educate the public on the dangers of TB, how to prevent it from spreading, and the success of properly administered and followed treatment in curing the disease.
The Health Outreach Program, implemented by Population Service International (PSI), Project HOPE, and the AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW), is one of the many development projects implemented in Tajikistan by the United States Agency for International Development. Since 1992, the American people through the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe have provided about $900 million in programs that support Tajikistan’s democratic institutions, health care, education, and economic growth.
