On July 19, 2109, United States Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum highlighted the key successes of a five-year U.S. Government program to fight tuberculosis (TB), and announced future programs in Uzbekistan to reduce and eliminate TB, especially drug-resistant strains. He handed over USG purchased modern laboratory and video equipment worth over $730,000 to improve detection and treatment of drug-resistant types of TB (DR TB), enhance the country's testing capacity of quality of medicines, and connect TB specialists across the country with TB experts in Tashkent and internationally.

“For over twenty years, the United States through USAID has partnered with Uzbekistan to limit the spread of this deadly disease by providing effective and accessible TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for all. Our programs here have a single focus: saving the lives of people in Uzbekistan.  I am confident our cooperation will continue to grow and deepen with new interventions, and I look forward to seeing future results as we work towards our common goal of ending TB in Uzbekistan, “noted Ambassador Rosenblum.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) TB Programs in Uzbekistan, which are implemented in close partnership with the National TB Program, improved TB services, diagnostics, and clinical guidelines, prevention and management of TB/HIV co-infection, and introduced the most modern anti-TB medications and new treatment models to Uzbekistan.  This includes a new class of antibiotic, Bedaquiline, which provides effective treatment for hundreds of patients suffering from multi-drug resistant TB.

Since 2015, USAID has provided over $14 million in funding to combat TB in Uzbekistan and improved access to quality TB diagnostics, treatment, and care, covering seven regions (Andijan, Bukhara, Fergana, Jizzakh, Kashkadarya, Khorezm, Navoi, and Samarkand) and Tashkent city. The programs have trained over 5,000 healthcare providers, improved the ability of 40 laboratories to meet international TB testing standards, and helped hundreds of patients to complete lengthy and difficult treatment.  USAID also supported a local drug manufacturer in Uzbekistan to help improve the quality and availability of anti-TB medicines.