A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) notes the success of Eastern European and Central Asian countries in countering tuberculosis. In particular, Kyrgyzstan has shown a substantial improvement in incidence rates.
Incidence dynamics and the threat of resistance
According to the WHO, in 2024, the tuberculosis incidence rate in Kyrgyzstan was twice as low as in 2015. Despite this success, the main problem for the region remains resistance to rifampicin — a key first-line therapy drug.
The situation with drug resistance remains critical: in several Eastern European and Central Asian countries, resistance is identified in more than half of patients who previously underwent treatment. Russia, India, China, and the Philippines are among the group of countries accounting for more than half of all new global cases of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis.
New WHO lists
The updated list of countries with a high burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis for the 2026–2030 period includes Russia, Ukraine, and all five Central Asian states, including Turkmenistan, which entered the list for the first time. Meanwhile, Belarus and Moldova were removed from this list and moved to the category of countries requiring attention.
