The United States sent a new drug to Kazakhstan to treat tuberculosis
Last reviewed: 20.05.2018
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Today in Kazakhstan, there are more than 800 patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis. On this issue in Almaty, a conference was held in which a representative of the government agency for international development of the United States and the head of the Kazakhstan Center for Tuberculosis Problems participated. At the conference, Sarah Walter announced the US concern about the situation in Kazakhstan and readiness to help.
A large number of tuberculosis patients represent an epidemiological threat to others, therefore in the United States they decided to provide as a charitable aid a new effective drug for the treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis.
According to some reports, the greatest number of tuberculosis patients was recorded in Central Asia, incl. And with drug-resistant forms. Despite significant advances in science and medicine, almost all over the world physicians continue to use drugs that were used more than 4 decades ago. In Kazakhstan, there are no modern medicines for tuberculosis, and therefore the possibilities for treating patients are limited. Experts argue that the medication provided to Kazakhstani medics (Bedakvilin) allows not only to stop the spread of severe forms of tuberculosis, but also completely cure patients.
More than 30,000 doses of Bedakvilin will be delivered to Kazakhstan, besides, US representatives noted that such assistance will be provided to those countries where high incidence rates are also recorded.
It is worth noting that the American specialists several months ago expressed their concern about the health of the people of Kazakhstan because of the abuse of antibiotics.
In Kazakhstan, antibiotics are freely available (in contrast to European countries) and people often resort to treatment with these drugs for any reason. As is known, the unreasonable use of antibiotics leads to drug resistance and difficulties in the treatment of infectious diseases (pneumonia, tuberculosis).
Abuse of antibiotics, according to experts, is caused by the fact that the majority of the population does not understand that this group of drugs is intended for the treatment of exclusively bacterial infections. But people at the first signs of a cold tend to buy antibiotics in order to avoid complications or recover more quickly. But this approach is erroneous - only in Europe from antibiotic-resistant infections, more than 25,000 people die, and more than 1.5 billion dollars are spent on the treatment of such patients.
Kazakhstan is among the countries where the highest number of cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis are registered, which are on maintenance therapy. The reasons for such a situation may be poor-quality, irregular or incomplete treatment (often patients after the improvement of the condition themselves interrupt the course of treatment).
In addition to the difficulties in treatment, another problem arises, namely, the high risk of spreading the infection, not only within a single country (today you can get to another continent in a few hours and transfer the infection).
Therefore, experts warn, if now do not take action, then the epidemic of tuberculosis can begin in any country.