200 patients suffering from multidrug-resistant TB to get free treatment from September

About 200 patients suffering from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis from the entire country will benefit from a free medical treatment with second line medicines starting September this year. The delivery of the antituberculosis drugs will be done in 3 stages (August, November 2007 and March 2008) through the TB/Aids Programme funded by the World Bank and the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The TB/Aids Programme’s coordinator, Victor Burinschi, stated that 153 patients suffering from multidrug-resistant TB in the civil and penitentiary sectors are already receiving treatment in the specialised section of the Republican Institute of Physiopneumolody “Chiril Draganiuc”. The patients undertake the treatment against the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis only with their consent, and the curing means are offered in compliance with the WHO requirements. Although the treatment for the patients is free, some of them refuse to start it. Coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, Dumitru Sain, states that “this is happening because of the long treatment period, which is 2 years, of the compulsory continuous medication, as well as of the adverse side effects”. The multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is the results of an incorrect and inconsequent therapy, as well as to the suspension of the antituberculosis treatment. When this form of tuberculosis is diagnosed, the patients need a long-term second line treatment, which is expensive and toxic for the body. If the multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is not treated on time, the patient can die. As many as 1290 patients suffering from drug-resistant forms of TB lived in Moldova early in July.