The Ministry of Corrections of Georgia says the Global Tuberculosis Report 2017 published by the World Health Organization suggests that Georgia is among the countries with the best practices when it comes to tuberculosis prevention.
The report emphasizes that “high programme costs relative to a smaller pool of patients also help to explain comparatively high per-patient costs in some countries (e.g. Bosnia and Herzegovina).
However, some EECA countries have markedly reduced their reliance on hospitalization and have changed the model of care for patients with drug-susceptible TB. From 2014 to 2016, five of the 12 EECA countries reduced the number of bed days per patient treated for drug-susceptible TB: Armenia (10%), Azerbaijan (47%), Georgia (38%), Kyrgyzstan (33%) and the Russian Federation (66%).”
The report also suggests that “from 2014 to 2016, five of the 12 EECA countries reduced the number of bed days per patient treated for drug-susceptible TB: Armenia (10%), Azerbaijan (47%), Georgia (38%), Kyrgyzstan (33%) and the Russian Federation (66%).”
Georgia’s success is caused by the overall reduction of tuberculosis cases in the country. In 2011, there were 1,169 registered and 797 new cases, whereas in 2017 there were 79 registered and 45 new cases. According to the WHO, tuberculosis cases decreased in Georgia by 38%.
According to the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia, there haven’t been any cases of deaths from tuberculosis in the penitentiary system in recent years.