Skip to main content
MSF TB Project |  Amudarya rayon (district), Karakalapakstan
War in Gaza:: find out how we're responding
Learn more
In Karakalpakstan, western Uzbekistan, we focus on the implementation of a comprehensive care programme for drug-resistant and drug-sensitive tuberculosis (TB).

With the comprehensive care programme, we support the Ministry of Health (MoH) in its rollout of protocols reflecting global best practices, as well as introduce healthcare innovations, and promote shorter course TB treatment regimens using new and repurposed drugs. 

We have also implemented the TB PRACTECAL clinical trial. This is the first-ever multi-country, randomised, controlled clinical trial, aiming to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a six-month, all oral treatment regimen for drug-resistant TB. We are now working with the World Health Organization to promote the new regimen as the international standard of care for drug-resistant TB patients.

In the capital, Tashkent, we provide support for the diagnosis and treatment of people living with HIV and co-infections. In 2021, we also launched a mobile laboratory to support the diagnosis of HIV and co-infections among vulnerable people. 

Our teams also support the MoH in its efforts to develop the public healthcare system.

Our activities in 2022 in Uzbekistan

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2022.

MSF in Uzbekistan in 2022 In Uzbekistan, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supports the Ministry of Health to improve diagnosis and treatment for people with HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
media:orange_logic_image:895ee0bc-9654-457a-a2e5-3a6001c095de

In the capital, Tashkent, and the surrounding region, MSF runs a mobile laboratory in collaboration with the Republican AIDS Centre. Operating from a specially equipped bus, the team provides rapid testing for HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis, as well as information on treatment opportunities and specialist referrals for people who would otherwise have difficulty accessing diagnosis and care. In addition, we support diagnosis and treatment for people with HIV and co-infections living in vulnerable circumstances, in collaboration with Tashkent AIDS Centre.

In the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, we run a comprehensive care programme for patients with drug-resistant and drug-sensitive TB. We continue to support the roll-out of treatment protocols reflecting global best practices, and promote shorter treatment regimens with the use of newer and repurposed TB drugs.

In Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, and in Tashkent, we concluded our groundbreaking multi-country clinical trial, TB-PRACTECAL, which investigated the efficacy and safety of a new treatment regimen for drug-resistant TB. In December, based on the results of the trial, the World Health Organization recommended this regimen for patients with multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB in its updated treatment guidelines. To ensure the scale-up of this treatment regimen, in October, MSF launched the SMARRTT (six-month all-oral regimens for rifampicin-resistant TB treatment) operational study in Nukus.

 

in 2022
 
Journal article

Impact of pyrazinamide resistance on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan

1 May 2018
Journal article
 
DR TB Treatment in Uzbekistan
Access to medicines

Pioneering clinical trial for drug-resistant tuberculosis starts

Press Release 19 Jan 2017
 
Uzbekistan

“Please, never give up. You too can beat TB.”

Voices from the Field 6 Aug 2015
 
Journal article

Risk Factors Associated with Default from Multi- and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment, Uzbekistan: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis

6 Nov 2013
Journal article
 
Uzbekistan

Comprehensive TB care for all: The Karakalpakstan Experience

Report 2 May 2011
 
Tuberculosis

Meet the first MSF patient to have recovered from XDR-TB

Project Update 23 Dec 2010