The Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan has developed a procedure for isolation of people, who refuse tuberculosis treatment. The ministry submitted a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on its approval for public discussion.
As the background statement says, the goal and objective of the draft document is to improve the epidemiological situation related to tuberculosis in the country, further reducing incidence and mortality.
The epidemiological situation related to tuberculosis in the country remains alarming, the ministry stresses.
The Kyrgyz Republic is among 30 countries in the world with a high burden of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) and among 18 countries with a high incidence in the WHO European Region.
The Ministry of Health reported that progress has been made in reducing incidence and mortality rates within the framework of Tuberculosis I — Tuberculosis V programs.
In 2018, Kyrgyzstan, along with other UN countries, committed to ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030, namely reducing mortality by 95 percent, reducing the number of new cases by 90 percent, and reducing the financial burden on patients.
«Unfortunately, medical, social and economic challenges have sharply reduced access to essential tuberculosis services. Along with the high prevalence of MDR TB (30 percent of all tuberculosis cases), the rate of treatment refusal remains high (22 percent). This category of people has psychological and social problems. As a rule, these are people in a difficult life situation, who are forced to refuse treatment and go to work in other countries (migrants), but there are categories of people, who intentionally interrupt treatment, are irresponsible about their health and cause harm and risk of infection to others. The healthcare system is also responsible for such patients, but measures such as isolation of people, who refuse treatment, are necessary to maintain public health and prevent the spread of tuberculosis in the country,» the ministry added.
