DUSHANBE, March 17, Asia-Plus — Despite recent progress, tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant health and economic problem in Tajikistan with an incidence of 127 cases per 100,000 population, Sadullo Saydaliyev, chief doctor at Tajikistan’s TB-Prevention Center, announced in a two-day seminar formally titled “Tuberculosis and Role of Media in Raising the Population Awareness” that was held in Dushanbe on March 15-16.
The seminar dedicated to World TB Day, which is held on March 24 each year, was staged by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Project HOPE.
“In Tajikistan, some 500 people annually die of tuberculosis; the TB mortality is 7.2 per 100,000 population,” chief doctor at the TB-prevention center said.
Local specialists named poverty, natural disasters, unemployment, poor housing conditions and nutrition, and rising drug abuse as contributing factors to the appearance of chronic forms of tuberculosis, an increased incidence of infection, the spread of the disease, and the number of fatalities.
In the meantime, Saodat Qosimova, social mobilization and small grants coordinator with Project HOPE in Tajikistan, said in an interview with Asia-Plus that not only vulnerable people but also representatives from the well-to-do section of the population contract the disease.
The Project HOPE implements activities to improve political support, increase human and systems capacity, and engage in community advocacy and mobilization for TB control and prevention with an emphasis on the WHO-recommended DOTS (Directly Observed Training Short Course) strategy
According to Qosimova, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Germany’s KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW development bank) in 2002 reached an agreement on providing a grant of 2.5 million euros for major repairs to Tajikistan’s republican TB-treatment facility and providing it with medical equipment and medicines. “The first tranche, intended for purchasing medicines to treat 15,600 TB patients, came in 2002 and the second one, intended for treatment of 16,200 TB patients and equipment for the hospital, came in 2005,” Qosimova said.
According to her, 116 specialists in TB-prevention propaganda have to date been trained in Tajikistan.
Qosimova added that in 2005, the most serious TB situation was reported in the Kulob region (188 cases per 100,000 population) and the Rushan district of Gorno Badakhshan (191.2 cases per 100,000 population).
“The current rate of curing TB in Tajikistan makes 86 percent and the Ministry of Health strives for bringing it to 88 percent,” Qosimova said.
World TB Day, held on March 24, is an occasion for people around the world to raise awareness about the international health threat presented by TB. It is a day to recognize the collaborative efforts of all countries involved in fighting TB. TB can be cured, controlled, and, with diligent efforts and sufficient resources, eventually eliminated.
