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TB outbreak three times higher in Chechnya than in Russia

Timur Aliyev, North Caucasus – Unofficial figures for people with tuberculosis in Chechnya are nearly triple those of Russia, according to Musa Akhmadov, Health Minister of the Chechen Republic.

“Just in the first half of last year, there were more than 500 new cases, ten percent of which were active forms of tuberculosis,” the minister stated.

Furthermore, the total of officially registered TB cases is in excess of the Russian index: 28 patients per thousand in Chechnya compared to 26 per thousand in Russia, he added. According to him, the presence of tuberculosis in the republic reared its head many years ago.

“The outbreak of this disease among Chechens began during the years after the 1944 deportations; and our country was in first place in the USSR for total number of infections.”

But the situation is even more alarming today as the republic’s tuberculosis centre does not have the strength to cope with such a widespread problem. “Hospital beds meet only a fifth of the demand; and there are not enough specialists nor even medical equipment such as bronchoscopes and X-rays,” the minister said.

According to his figures, the number of infected patients that are hospitalized does not exceed 15% since the rest are being treated as outpatients. He added that during the past four years of the federal program to rebuild the economy of Chechnya, not one specialized hospital or clinic had been renovated or constructed.

He concluded that such healthcare conditions cannot in any way provide a good health service.

According to official data, the number of patients with active forms of TB is around 6,000, and more than 16,000 are outpatients.

In addition, a growth in the rate of TB infections has been observed. The start of 2004 revealed more than a two-fold increase in numbers than in the same period a year earlier.

The Chechen Health Ministry is certain that the data obtained from medical establishments does not give the whole picture. Along with the reluctance of those infected to seek medical attention, the country-wide fluoroscope inspection of the population collapsed in the last ten years.

(MG/E,T)

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