Minsk to host international conference on MDR TB

The international conference “New approaches to combating M/XDR TB in Belarus” will take place in Minsk on 13-14 November, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarus office of the UNDP/the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB) is a rare type of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB). XDR-TB can develop when second-line drugs used to treat MDR TB are misused or mismanaged and therefore become ineffective. Today only about 3% of MDR TB cases is treated in line with the WHO standards.

The conference in Minsk will discuss the latest solutions in preventing and combating MDR TB, modern healthcare technologies, interaction between the TB and HIV control programs. The delegates will review the results of the plan to combat the spread of the M/XDR TB in Belarus and new approaches to treating patients. Leading specialists from around the world will share best practices in controlling MDR TB in their countries.

Taking part in the conference will be UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Belarus Yekaterina Paniklova, Medical Officer for TB and M/XDR TB of the Division of Communicable Diseases, Health Security, and Environment (DCE) at the WHO Regional Officer for Europe Pierpaolo de Colombani, representatives of the WHO Country Office in Belarus, the Healthcare Ministry, National Research Center for Pulmonology and Phthisiology and other agencies.

The conference will be held within the framework of the UNDP program “Introducing the Stop TB Strategy in Belarus with a particular focus on taking measures to combat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB)” financed by the Global Fund and implemented in cooperation with the Healthcare Ministry of Belarus.