Surviving Two Years of Treatment for Drug-Resistant TB in Kyrgyzstan

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works in the penitentiary and civilian sectors in Kyrgyzstan offering treatment for multi-drug resistant TB. In February 2012, MSF began offering comprehensive medical care for people with drug-resistant TB and people co-infected with HIV and TB in the district of Kara-Suu, southwestern Kyrgyzstan, where the rates of drug-resistant strains of TB are particularly high. Teams also offer psycho-social support to encourage adherence to the arduous two-year treatment program. While the team has helped renovate the TB hospital in Kara Suu to improve infection control, the aim is to enable patients to be treated on an outpatient basis, at clinics closer to home.