The Kyrgyz Republic is one of 30 countries with the highest rates of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 29 percent of new TB cases in the Kyrgyz Republic are drug-resistant, compared with 3.3 percent worldwide.
What's at stake
Consistent access to and availability of quality diagnostics and medicines is at the heart of effective TB treatment. Delays in diagnosis or lapses in treatment can be life-threatening and accelerate the development of DR-TB. Ensuring that patients can be diagnosed quickly and consistently receive the medicine they need requires strong and resilient supply chains and laboratory networks capable of assuring quality products and services from production to patient.
Consistent access to and availability of quality diagnostics and medicines is at the heart of effective TB treatment.
Project at-a-glance
- Timeline: 2020 – 2024
- Donor: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
- Technical areas: Supply chain management, Laboratory systems strengthening
Project goals and objectives
The USAID Cure Tuberculosis Project, implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. (JSI) in partnership with the University Research Co., LLC (URC), USP, and other partners, aims to strengthen the Kyrgyz government’s ability to diagnose, treat and cure people with DR-TB. To support the project, USP worked to:
- Improve TB detection by strengthening the national TB laboratory system.
- Improve TB drug management by strengthening the supply chain to ensure consistent availability of quality TB medicines.
Results
- Improved TB diagnostic testing, reducing turnaround times from 3-7 days to less than 24 hours.
- Introduced post-marketing surveillance to create a new regulatory function and first-ever pilot test to improve quality across medical products.
- Developed guidance for good medicine storage and warehouse practices and improved quality control of medical products for state health care organizations, which were adopted by the Ministry of Health across all medicines.
- Designed and conducted a TB laboratory situational analysis to inform revisions to the National Strategy on TB Control.
- Amended a national law and developed new standard operating procedures to assure quality during procurement.
- Completed an assessment and updated the guidelines for the active TB drug safety monitoring and management system.
- Assessed registration procedures for TB medicines and provided recommendations for improvement.
Related resources
- Reflecting on results from four years fighting TB in the Kyrgyz Republic
- Technical brief: Supply chain strengthening: Integrating quality assurance into procurement and management of TB medicines in Kyrgyzstan
- Beyond TB medicines: How quality assurance is elevating health systems in Central Asia
- Tackling drug resistant TB
- Building a resilient medicine supply chain to combat tuberculosis in the Kyrgyz Republic
- Cure Tuberculosis project: Year 4 annual results
Beyond TB medicines
In the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan, investments in TB are resulting in broader health benefits, beyond just a single disease.
