Innovation, Education and Patient Support Turning the Tide on TB

Innovation, Education and Patient Support Turning the Tide on TB

By Dr.Ali Fourkan

TB is still the leading global infectious disease killer 

No one wants to hear a positive diagnosis of Tuberculosis. But for Gulnara, a single mother from Russia who was now living in a foreign country, the diagnosis was especially frightening. 

It is this overwhelming fear, as well as a lack of education regarding treatment, that causes many TB cases to go unreported. This, in turn, creates a domino effect leading to the potential widespread transmission of TB. 

According the STOP TB Partnership, despite most cases of TB being curable with a six month treatment regimen that costs less than $40, there are still over nine million people who contract TB every year, including one million cases in children. 

Nearly 1.8 million people lose their lives each year to TB, making it the leading global infectious disease killer -- all of which could have been cured and avoided.  

Fortunately, Gulnara’s story has a happy ending. She received the care and continuing support she needed to seek treatment.

Her advice: “Don’t give up, be positive and get treatment without missing a single day. And most important, remember TB is curable.”  

The UN Sustainable Development Goals call for an end to TB by 2030

Project HOPE is doing its part to meet this United Nations goal. Working with the most vulnerable populations, including migrant workers and people with already comprised immune systems, Project HOPE is constantly seeking new innovations to speed up the diagnosis of TB and get people in treatment sooner, stopping the spread of this curable disease and saving lives.

This improvement, according to Mariam Sianozaova, Project HOPE's Regional Director in Europe/Eurasia, is possible through direct interventions and a comprehensive approach. Project HOPE has been implementing TB prevention, control and treatment programs for more than 25 years. These programs now also address multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) and TB/HIV co-infection. Located in regions with the highest TB burdens, the programs are tailored to suit the needs of individual countries and their communities and provide extensive trainings for health care workers with an emphasis on increasing diagnosis and awareness of the disease as well as access to quality care.

HOPE’s approach to TB management focuses on strengthening health systems by improving the skills and knowledge of health professionals and upgrading laboratory services and equipment. 

Global Leadership

Project HOPE continues to take an active role on the global stage in advancing efforts to end tuberculous. TB experts were once again among the thousands of international delegates from more than 100 countries gathering at the annual Union World Lung Conference on Lung Health, this year held in Guadalajara, Mexico. Read more about the conference and Project HOPE's contributions, which included showcasing key learnings on the following posters: