Meeting of the Working Group on Tuberculosis at the Coordinating Council on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria of the member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States took place on December 2 at the CIS headquarters.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Secretariat of the IPA CIS Council and the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth.
The main issue of the meeting was the discussion of the results of the implementation of the Joint Action Plan to prevent the spread of tuberculosis for 2020-2024 and preparations for the meeting of the Council for Cooperation in the field of Healthcare of the CIS, which will be held on December 6-7 in St. Petersburg.
The members of the Working Group noted that the tuberculosis situation in the Commonwealth countries tends to significantly improve, while demonstrating good dynamics. Such positive results indicate the special attention to this problem in countries and the measures taken to solve it.
Regarding the results of the implementation of the Plan, it was noted that all CIS countries have a national policy in the field of early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis; national programs have been developed to combat this disease.
During the discussion, the members of the Working Group came to an understanding about the expediency of developing a draft new Joint Action Plan for 2026-2030.
At the same time, the members of the Working Group supported the initiative on the need to develop recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases caused by non-tuberculosis mycobacteria. The holding of the first International Congress of specialists from the CIS countries in the field of respiratory health was also supported. It is planned to be organized in October 2025 in Minsk.
The Tajik side expressed interest in discussing the use of innovative technologies and artificial intelligence in the diagnosis of tuberculosis, as well as expanding scientific and pedagogical potential to improve the level of professional training and retraining of phthisiologists and primary care specialists.
The participants summed up the results of the work of the Working Group in 2024 and spoke in favor of the need to maintain the Working Group, despite the completion of the Plan, and also outlined areas of interaction in 2025 if their proposals are supported by members of the CIS Health Cooperation Council.
Representatives of the CIS Executive Committee familiarized the members of the Working Group with statistical data on tuberculosis provided by the CIS Statistical Committee.
It is planned that the next meeting of the Working Group will be held in the first quarter of 2025.
