Azerbaijan: Sharing details of successful effort against tuberculosis in prisons

Baku, March 31 (AzerTAc). Tuberculosis is the second leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, after the human immunodeficiency virus. Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is spreading at alarming rates around the world, particularly in much of the former Soviet Union. This deadly disease is particularly virulent in places of detention. In Azerbaijan, however, the Ministry of Justice has achieved the best cure rates in the region and one of the best worldwide. "Between 1995 and 2011, the ministry and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made a concerted effort to control tuberculosis in prisons," said Denise Duran, who heads the ICRC delegation in the country. Today, the ICRC presented to the Main Medical Department of the Ministry of Justice the Azerbaijani version of a film entitled "Azerbaijan: combating multi-drug resistant TB in detention." The documentary shows how individual attention at the country's central treatment facility for detainees, combined with specialist follow-up care and solid political commitment, has made Azerbaijan a model for combating multi-drug tuberculosis in prisons. "This film will help us share our experience with other prison health professionals and with the public at large," said Lieutenant-Colonel Rafael Mehdiyev, director of the Main Medical Department.