MINSK, 19 March (BelTA) – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) will provide additional financing to Belarus to treat tuberculosis, Vyacheslav Grankov, Communicable Diseases Programme Coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Belarus, told reporters, BelTA has learned.
“The Global Fund has discussed a possibility to provide additional funds alongside the grant to Belarus' anti-tuberculosis service in order to help the country switch to the WHO's new treatment guidelines. We expect that this financing will cover all the patients suffering from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis,” Vyacheslav Grankov said.
The financing is expected to make up about $1.2 million. The amount will be finalized after all the calculations are made.
A reminder, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will give Belarus a country grant of over $15 million to fight HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in 2019-2021. The corresponding agreement was signed at the Second Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) Regional Consultation on Expanding Access to Affordable and Quality Assured Antiretroviral and Antituberculosis Medicines on 20-22 November.
Lead Clinician for Phthisiology (non-staff) at the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry, Director of the National Research Center for Pulmonology and Phthisiology Gennady Gurevich provided an overview of the epidemiological situation in the country. In his words, there has been a steady decline in the TB incidence rate and the TB death rate in Belarus. In particular, in 2018 a record low number of children became infected with the disease – slightly more than 20. A decade ago, tuberculosis was detected in about 150 children annually. The incidence of TB among hospital staff is close to zero.
Belarus sticks to a patient-centered approach to tuberculosis care. As part of this approach, the priority is given to home-based treatment instead of facility-based treatment. “If a person poses an epidemiological threat to others and does not feel well, of course he/she should be treated in hospital. Otherwise, home-based treatment is recommended. It is a global trend,” Gennady Gurevich said. The introduction of the patient-centered approach to TB care allowed reducing hospital bed numbers by nearly 26% over the past two years.
As for the cost of treatment, Brest Oblast, for example, spends Br23,000 on treating one TB patient.
