The year 1992 marked 100 years since the bacillus was discovered. The World Health Organization has declared 24th March as the World TB Day. On this day doctors from all over the world gather to discuss and share their ideas on how to prevent and treat tuberculosis.1

Tuberculosis is primarily an illness of the respiratory system, and is spread by coughing and sneezing. Each year about 2 million people die from this curable disease.²Just a tiny amount of TB bacillus is enough to become infected. One third of the world’s population is infected and every second a new person becomes victim of the bacillus.³

Combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN country-members at the Millennium Summit in 2000⁴. To achieve this goal, in 2003 Uzbekistan adopted the internationally recognized best practice strategy called the WHO Direct Observable Treatment Short-course, known in short as DOTS.

The treatment and prevention of tuberculosis is indeed a priority of the national healthcare system as indicated in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It is also one of the areas of focus of the EU/UNDP supported project “Enhancement of Living Standards in Karakalpakstan (ELS)”.

The ELS project in Karakalpakstan, already in its second year of implementation, supports communities to rehabilitate social infrastructure such as primary health care centres to improve people’s access to health care in rural areas in the districts of Shumanay, Kegeliy and Karauzyak.

There is a documented linkage between tuberculosis and low living standards at society, community and patient levels. Some of the communities in the districts of Shumanay, Kegeliy and Karauzyak identified tuberculosis as one of their main problems and said that they are ready to support the country’s efforts to solve this problem for the improvement of people’s living standards.⁵

The ELS project has decided to start a community based project with the objective to improve the TB management and care through community contribution. Empowering people with TB and communities, including community TB care projects, is one of the six strategies of the WHO new ‘Stop TB strategy’ launched on 17^th of March 2006. The ‘Stop TB strategy’ aims to strengthen the DOTS strategy to achieve the TB related Millennium Development Goal by 2015.⁶

The ELS project in Karakalpakstan will first assess the magnitude of the TB problem in the selected communities. It will pay special attention to and explore the perception of TB among the members of the communities and the problems caused by TB in the communities and how this problem affects their living standards.

Based on the results of this assessment, the project and the communities will develop and implement strategies for community contribution to TB care and management. Improving TB care and management will decrease the burden of TB in the community and contribute to improved living standards.

The ELS project would like to acknowledge with respect for the wok that is being done by the country having TB halted and stooped by 2015⁷

^[1] http://novostiuzbekistana.st.uz

^[2] www.who.org

^[3] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets

^[4] On the Millennium Development Goals in the world see: http://www.undp.org/mdg/

^[5] In 2002, in Uzbekistan the incidence of tuberculosis per 100,000 people was 79.0. In Karakalpakstan it was 183.0 (State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan).

^[6] http://www.stoptb.org

^[7] More on the Development Goals in Uzbekistan in http://www.un.uz/eng/mdgs.htm