Nigeria To Conduct Drug-Resistant TB Survey With Stop TB Partnership, USAID

Nigeria is working with the Stop TB Partnership and USAID on a survey to diagnose and monitor the number of Nigerians with drug-resistant tuberculosis, Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper reports. Jonathan Jiya, the director of public health, said there are a “high” number of drug-resistant TB cases, but there are no exact figures because the government has not surveyed people with the disease (Muanya, Guardian, 6/1).

Most People With Drug-Resistant TB in Kenya Not Receiving Treatment

Of the 300 people who have been diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis in Kenya, 45 are receiving “some form of treatment,” the Daily Nation reports. Most patients with drug resistant TB “are either not receiving treatment or have been allowed out of hospitals because the government does not have the money to isolate and treat them,” the Daily Nation writes. Some of the patients who are receiving treatment are “not happy with the care they receive” (Onyangop, Daily Nation, 5/31).

Public, Private and NGO Partnerships Help Provide Basic Healthcare In Bangladesh

Fostering partnerships between public, private and non-governmental organizations could improve healthcare in Bangladesh, Syed Modasser Ali, the prime minister’s health advisor, said on Sunday, bdnews24.com reports. Ali spoke at an event marking the donation of five ambulances from the mobile company Grameenphone to NGOs, as part of a project also supported by USAID. “[M]ore than a million economically disadvantaged mothers and their babies have been served by the Grameenphone Safe Motherhood and Infant Care Project” since its launch in May 2007 (bdnews24.com, 5/31).