Although tuberculosis (TB) is both preventable and curable,
it remains a leading infectious cause of morbidity and mortality
worldwide. In 2007, the World Health Organization
(WHO) estimated 9.27 million new cases of TB, with 1.3
million deaths [1]. To decrease the impact of TB, the United
Nations included TB prevention and control among its
eight Millennium Development Goals, with a proposal to
reduce TB incidence to half the 1990’ level by 2015 [2].
To measure and achieve this, the World Health Assembly
(WHA) highlighted two indicators: 70% global and incountry
case detection rates and successful treatment of 85%
of cases [1].
Many countries, including the majority of those belonging
to the former Soviet Union (FSU), have been unable
to meet these targets [3]. The breakup of the Soviet Union
had devastating effects on public health infrastructure and
the ability to deliver care. Severe economic and political
turmoil made health system reconstruction difficult, creating
favorable conditions for the rise of infectious diseases such as
TB.