WHO collaborating centre in Baku welcomes a delegation from Uzbekistan for a study tour on prevention and treatment of tuberculosis in prison

The delegation, consisting of 13 professionals from penitentiary system, civil society and WHO Office in Uzbekistan, will also participate at the training session on prevention and treatment of tuberculosis in prison.

“Justice Ministry’s Medical Department made significant progress in combating tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) by working with international organisations. WHO/Europe acknowledged the Department’s best practice in implementing the ‘Stop TB Strategy’ in the penitentiary sector,” said Dr. Hande Harmanci, head of the WHO Country Office in Azerbaijan.

Based on these positive experiences WHO supported establishment of the collaborating centre on tuberculosis in prison in 2014, which is the only WHO-supported centre of its kind in the world. It promotes WHO strategies and guidelines through high-quality, evidence-based education on tuberculosis control in prisons, provides support to WHO and gives technical assistance to national tuberculosis programmes worldwide, including programmes in prisons.

Tuberculosis is a contagious disease that spreads when a person breathes in bacteria breathed out by an infected person. It is mainly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. About one third of the world’s population is infected with the latent form of the disease, and one-tenth of infected people become ill with active tuberculosis during their lifetimes. Europe’s tuberculosis burden is among the lowest in the world, but the number of new MDR-TB cases is the highest.

WHO Regional Office for Europe and WHO Country Offices are continuously lending support to WHO collaborating centre by means of attracting study participants from around the world, involvement of international experts, provision of handouts and materials, facilitation and organisation of training courses and study tours.

Focal Points:

MMD MOJ – Natavan Alikhanova, natavan_x@yahoo.com

WHO/CO – Javahir Suleymanova, suleymanovaj@who.int

More information is available:

Collaborating Centre (http://www.prisonhealth.az/index.php?lang=3&ind=main&id=106)  

WHO/Europe:(http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/tuberculosis/partners-and-networks/who-collaborating-centre-in-azerbaijan-on-tuberculosis-in-prisons)