The Chair of the Health Care and Social Issues Committee, Dimitri Khundadze and the Committee members held a meeting with the representatives of the Georgian National Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (NCTLD), international experts and field specialists to discuss the efficiency of the TB control mechanisms and the improvement of the legal base.

As D. Khundadze noted, Georgia has achieved significant progress recently – the Parliament adopted the standalone Law on TB Control. According to him, the Government increased the program budget, which resulted in the positive dynamics – a significant reduction in the number of TB patients.

“As of today, we need to take the processes in the region into account, I mean the war in Ukraine, which may significantly change the social situation in the region and entail the increase of TB as a social disease. Hence, Georgia may need to intensify its engagement in the treatment process. In this regard, we are considered a leader country in the region and I believe, we need higher activity in further perspective, mobilization of more resources and acquiring better experience. The training of the new specialists was one of the key directions of our agenda today, including the sharing of the modern experience and I hope to witness the positive impact of our meeting on the sphere. We intend to closely cooperate with our colleagues for better outcomes”, - he noted.

The meeting was attended by the First Deputy Chair of the Committee, Vladimir Kakhadze; Director of the NCTLD, Zaza Avaliani and the representatives of the Center; Head of the MDR TB department of Riga Lung and TB disease Clinic, Liga Kuksa; Professor, Medical Director of the Research Center Borstel, Christoph Lange (Germany); Director of End TB Study Consortium, TBnet Steering Committee member, Head of Clinical Trials, Lorenzo Guglielmetti (France); and the pulmonologist, TBnet Steering Committee member, Head of Advocacy direction, Jess Potter (Great Britain).