World TB Day 2024
Two years of war in Ukraine: What is the state of the fight against TB?
The conflict, ongoing for two years in Ukraine – a country already heavily affected by tuberculosis – has had a devastating impact on the prevalence and management of tuberculosis in war-torn areas.
Even before the war, Ukraine had one of the highest TB rates among the 53 countries in the WHO European Region, with 32,000 tuberculosis cases in 2020 and 12,000 cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis, of which only half of the affected individuals were receiving treatment. The destruction of medical infrastructure, interruption of basic health services, disruption of screening, diagnostic, and treatment programs due to the war have resulted in delays in tuberculosis patient care and contributed to an increase in tuberculosis cases.
Last February, Friends Europe met Alexandrina Iovita, Senior Advisor on Human Rights at the Global Fund, and Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director of the NGO in Ukraine “Alliance for Public Health”.
This was the opportunity to let them talk about the state of the fight against tuberculosis in Ukraine, two years after the beginning of the war.