Providing TB Support for Migrant Populations in Kazakhstan
Project HOPE is working in specific regions providing support in TB management, service delivery, monitoring and surveillance and patient support.
Kazakhstan receives more migrant workers than any other country in the Central Asia Region. In December 2014, Project HOPE, with the financial support of The Global Fund, started implementing a three-year program to address cross-border TB, M/XDR-TB and TB/HIV among labor migrants. The program addresses the goals of the State Comprehensive Plan to Stop TB in Kazakhstan for 2014-2020 by aiming to:
- Remove barriers that limit access to services for internal and external migrants.
- Ensure prevention and treatment of TB among migrants.
- Strengthen community systems and the role of civil society and NGOs.
To achieve these goals, Project HOPE is working in the Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Aktobe, Karaganda and Shymkent regions providing support in TB management, service delivery, monitoring and surveillance and patient support.
By the end of the program, it is expected that Kazakhstan will initiate and lead the inter-regional cooperation for TB control among migrant workers in the region by having adopted regulations to ensure migrants’ access to TB diagnosis and treatment and developed a system of cooperation between medical institutions and NGOs to provide timely diagnosis and adherence to treatment.