“This project contributes to the international effort to stop tuberculosis”

The theme established by the World Health Organisation for the World Tuberculosis Day (WTBD) this year is “Unite to End TB,” and one of the four sub-theme is “Together we test, treat and cure more effectively.”

Through its activities, the project entitled “The Improvement of the health of the Romanian population through enhanced tuberculosis control” falls perfectly in line with this sub-theme by providing TB laboratories with advanced equipment and by ensuring rapid diagnosis services. We have talked about this with Mr Răzvan Vulcănescu, Undersecretary of State with the Ministry of Health, coordinator of RO_19.01 – “Public Health Initiatives” Programme 

What is the contribution of the project “The Improvement of the health of the Romanian population through enhanced tuberculosis control” to the results of the Programme RO_19.01 – Public Health Initiatives, managed by the Ministry of Health?

The Ministry of Health was designated as the operator of the Programme RO 19.01 – “Public Health Initiatives,” and its objective is “to improve public health and reduce healthcare inequalities.” Two of the expected outcomes of the programme are the improvement of the prevention and treatment of contagious diseases (including TB) and the development of resources at all the levels of the healthcare system. This project seeks – and the results have already begun to show – to consolidate the institutional capacity of the National Tuberculosis Prevention, Surveillance and Control Programme PNPSCT) with a view to controlling the TB epidemic in Romania, as well as to ensure the early detection of cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) and of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB XDR). The project also aims at ensuring full, continuous and quality treatment with second-line drugs for MDR/XDR TB patients, as well as at developing an integrated community support model for the treatment and prevention of TB in poor and vulnerable groups. The project was prepared based on the thorough understanding of the current social factors associated to TB and of the interventions from outside the healthcare sector, in particular in relation to social support and the prevention of the disease in vulnerable groups.

In more than one year and a half since its inception, this project has determined considerable improvements: we have ten laboratories fitted with ultra-advanced equipment which can cover the entire territory of the country, we have trained pulmonologists all over the country, we have an integrated community support model for the treatment and prevention of TB in poor and vulnerable groups. How do these results look from the perspective of the WHO, in the context of the World TB Day (24 March)?

The theme of the World TB Day (WTBD) this year, as announced by the WHO, is “Unite to End TB,” with reference to government, communities, the civil society in the field and the private sector, therefore addressing all stakeholders that can contribute to this goal. One of the four sub-themes that the WHO promotes in 2016 for the WTBD is “Together we test, treat and cure more effectively,” and the project “The Improvement of the health of the Romanian Population through enhanced tuberculosis control” falls perfectly in line with this sub-theme, through the provision of TB laboratories with advanced equipment and through the rapid testing services which they now can offer patients. As such, the project contributes to the international effort to stop this disease and follows the lines of the WHO Stop TB Strategy, aimed at eradicating the TB epidemic by 2030. Among others, this means that the activities of all stakeholders should focus on the patient and on assuming ambitious changes in the public health system.

During the last year, more than 10,000 persons have been tested using rapid diagnostic methods in the laboratories that were provided with equipment under this project. This means that, in time, there will be less new cases of disease in the communities and, ultimately, the overall number of TB cases will also decrease. What is the impact of this project on a social level?

The impact of this project translates into better diagnostic services, better treatment, directly-observed treatment (DOT), social support and preventive interventions for epidemiologically-relevant and vulnerable groups, which in time will lead to the reduction of economic and social differences caused by TB in Romania and in the European Economic Area.

Ensuring early diagnostic, followed by continuous, complete and quality anti-TB treatment DOT and incentives in the form of food for the patients in order to increase treatment adherence will lead to a better treatment success rate among TB patients who will in this way be able to return to work, becoming productive citizens again. Moreover, preventive interventions in the poor rural communities, including in the Roma communities, will contribute to better targeting of these populations in the primary healthcare services, to the decrease of the number of new TB cases, the reduction of stigma and of the discrimination of TB patients and their families, as well as to an improved social and economic status of the members of the community.