On May 2, eight private hospitals in Kabul signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to join efforts to fight tuberculosis (TB). Under the MOU, the private hospitals will provide TB detection and treatment services free of charge under USAID’s TB DOTS program, supplementing the 30 public hospitals and health facilities already providing these services. The MoPH will provide the hospitals with laboratory kits, medication, and training.
DOTS, which stands for Directly Observed Therapy Short Course, is the world standard for TB eradication and involves the detection and direct daily administration of medication by healthcare providers. Tuberculosis, which kills more than 9,000 Afghans each year, is being effectively combated in rural areas through the TB DOTS program. Detection and treatment success rates are impressive and the system is bringing many rural areas up to international norms for diagnosis and treatment success. Urban results, however, have not been as successful, and urban infection and deaths are on the rise. Getting more hospitals involved in treatment is one key to success.
The MoPH Office of Private Sector Coordination and the National Tuberculosis Control Program led the effort in partnership with the Afghan Private Hospital Association. The MoPH plans to extend this initiative to private hospitals in other urban areas in the near future.