WHO is supporting Armenia’s Ministry of Health to review its tuberculosis (TB) control programme, and to update the country’s national policy on TB prevention, systematic screening, and TB among labour migrants and those who relocate. Alongside external experts, the team from WHO assessed the status of national TB surveillance, including incidence, prevalence, mortality trends and registration systems, while reviewing progress made since 2019.
Systematic screening for TB and TB preventive treatment (which stops progression from infection to disease) are the most effective measures to slow down the spread of TB and contribute to the goal of eliminating the disease by 2030. WHO’s targeted technical support to the Ministry of Health will build on the efforts and achievements already made towards TB elimination in Armenia, including:
- a decline in the TB case registration rate by 36.3% from 2019 to 2023 due to strengthened primary health-care networks; and
- an improvement in the TB treatment success rate for patients with multidrug resistance, which reached 72.3% in the 2021 cohort.
Preventive treatment and systematic screening
Alongside the assessment, following a request from the National TB Programme, WHO/Europe organized a workshop for TB doctors working in primary health-care facilities in Armenia.
Dr Siddhartha Data, WHO Representative in Armenia, emphasized, “Health-care workers at national primary health-care facilities play a key role in curbing TB in communities. Building their capacity in TB prevention and screening is crucial to achieve the 2030 elimination goal, and aligns with the Ministry of Health's priorities of advancing the capacities of human resources for health and ongoing primary health-care reforms.”
WHO experts shared the latest WHO recommendations on preventive treatment and systematic screening, drawing on other countries’ experience with screening among vulnerable populations, as well as analysis of TB cases and contact tracing.
Dr Asya Movsisyan, a participant who works as a TB doctor in a primary health-care facility in Yerevan, shared, “The workshop was incredibly valuable, and it provided us with updates and answers to questions related to treatment, screenings and testing. We got updated information on new developments in this area. It would be great to see more such workshops offering participation opportunities for my colleagues, who are equally interested and eager to engage.”
WHO will continue its collaboration with the Ministry of Health and partners to improve TB surveillance, prevention and screening in Armenia, including among labour migrants. The TB prevention and systematic screening (PASS) review in Armenia is part of a regional project implemented with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).