We can beat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

Treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) can take years and is highly complex. The USAID Control and Prevention of Tuberculosis (CAP-TB) project developed a patient-centered, community-driven model to strengthen health systems, with the goal to impact early diagnosis, treatment success and prevention of MDR-TB. Of the patients receiving 24 months of treatment in China, Myanmar and Thailand, treatment outcomes for those supported by CAP-TB exceeded national outcomes in all countries.

• 86.5 percent of patients were treated successfully in Myanmar.
• 65 percent (16 percent higher than the national average) completed treatment in Thailand.
• 65 percent were treated successfully in China, which exceeded treatment outcomes of some of the country’s best hospitals as well as the national average of 50 percent.

Malaria causes nearly 300,000 deaths each year in Nigeria alone

FHI 360 works hand-in-hand with the government and nonprofit organizations in Nigeria, where malaria death rates are some of the highest in the world. We support the national malaria elimination program by increasing the quality, access and uptake of malaria control interventions and reducing malaria-associated mortalities in nine states. Our work raised awareness of malaria as a killer, particularly for those ages five and under, and supported the Ministry of Health’s campaigns to distribute insecticide-treated bed nets to schools and health facilities. We also strengthened the capacity of health workers to use data for decisionmaking and to improve malaria services to remote and underserved areas. One intervention included the provision of long-lasting insecticidal nets to pregnant women, among whom malaria can result in miscarriages, under-term or underweight babies, stillbirths and maternal deaths.