Georgian Health Ministry implements State Tuberculosis Management Program

Tbilisi: The Georgian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has been implementing the State Tuberculosis Management Program” in Georgia, which aims to provide effective and qualitative diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis cases, reducing tuberculose disease, death and infection spread in society and preventing the development of resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs in the patients.

 Under the state tuberculosis management program, the Georgian Health Ministry seeks to provide fast and effective diagnostics, outpatient and inpatient treatment, including surgical treatment to the ones suffering from Tuberculosis.

Also, quality, state-of-the-art anti-tuberculosis medication is available to all patients. Services are fully funded and do not involve co-paying from the patient.

 In 2022, about 36,222 cases of service were reported within the outpatient component. 1,264 people were treated within the stationary unit. Among them, there were 97 surgical cases.

Notably, the beneficiaries of the State Tuberculosis program are:

-Citizens of Georgia, people with Tuberculosis, non-citizens living in Georgia, along with the confirmed cases of lung and extra-lung tuberculose. 

The Georgian Health Ministry will also provide tuberculosis medication to the students with temporary residence permits studying in an authorized higher educational institution in Georgia.

 In addition to this, the persons in penitentiary institutions and the foreigners who are in temporary accommodation centres of the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia would also be provided with the treatment and the contacts of a person with Tuberculosis.

It is noteworthy that the Georgian Health Ministry has allocated a budget for the state tuberculosis management program for the current year at 17,200,000 GEL.