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The United States has sent a new drug for the treatment of tuberculosis to Kazakhstan
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Today, there are more than 800 drug-resistant tuberculosis patients in Kazakhstan. A conference on this issue was held in Almaty, attended by a representative of the US government agency for international development and the head of the Kazakhstan Center for Tuberculosis Problems. At the conference, Sarah Walter announced the US concern about the situation in Kazakhstan and its readiness to help.
A large number of tuberculosis patients pose an epidemiological threat to others, so the United States decided to provide a new effective drug for the treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis as charitable aid.
According to some data, the largest number of tuberculosis patients, including those with drug-resistant forms, are recorded in Central Asia. Despite significant advances in science and medicine, doctors in almost the entire world continue to use drugs that were used more than 4 decades ago. In Kazakhstan, there are no modern drugs for tuberculosis, and therefore the treatment options for patients are limited. Experts say that the drug (Bedaquiline) provided to Kazakhstani doctors allows not only to stop the spread of severe forms of tuberculosis, but also to completely cure patients.
More than 30 thousand doses of Bedaquiline will be delivered to Kazakhstan, and American representatives also noted that similar assistance will be provided to those countries where high rates of infection have also been recorded.
It is worth noting that American experts several months ago already expressed their concern about the health of Kazakhstanis due to the abuse of antibiotics.
In Kazakhstan, antibiotics are freely available (unlike in European countries) and people often resort to treatment with these drugs for any reason. As is known, inappropriate use of antibiotics leads to drug resistance and difficulties in treating infectious diseases (pneumonia, tuberculosis).
The 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 to treat exclusively bacterial infections. But at the first signs of a cold, people tend to buy antibiotics in order to allegedly prevent complications or recover faster. But this approach is wrong - in Europe alone, more than 25 thousand people die from antibiotic-resistant infections, and more than 1.5 billion dollars are spent on treating such patients.
Kazakhstan is among the countries with the highest number of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases that are on maintenance therapy. The reasons for this situation may be poor quality, irregular or unfinished treatment (often patients interrupt the course of treatment on their own after their condition improves).
In addition to the difficulties in treatment, another problem arises, namely the high risk of spreading the infection, and not only within one country (today, in a few hours, you can get to another continent and carry the infection).
Therefore, experts warn that if measures are not taken now, a tuberculosis epidemic could begin in any country.