The European Commission has approved aid worth 300,000 ECU to treat and contain tuberculosis in the Tomsk Oblast region of Siberia (Russian Federation). The aid, channelled via the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), will enable Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN), a British humanitarian organisation, to supply the drugs needed to treat tuberculosis patients and to follow them up properly, as partial treatment results in the spread of drug-resistant TB.Tuberculosis was always more of a problem in Siberia than in other parts of Russia, partly because of the difficulties of running health services in such remote areas. Recently the number of cases has risen dramatically: the whole population of one million is at risk, and the situation is particularly bad in prisons. The incidence of confirmed cases in Tomsk, for instance, is 61 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with about 10 per 100,000 in the European Union.
This particular project will last three months, after which the local authorities will take over dispensing a supply of drugs that should suffice for two years. The British Government is training local healthworkers.
