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Department Seal NEI Center of Excellence for the Management
Of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis
Fact Sheet released by the Bureau of European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, March 23, 2000
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On March 27, 2000, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Latvian National Tuberculosis Program inaugurated the new NEI Center of Excellence for the Management of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), one of the principal NEI projects in Latvia. Co-funded by the U.S., Swedish, and Latvian Governments and hosted by the Latvian Central Tuberculosis Hospital in Riga, the center will draw on CDC's technical expertise and will focus efforts to develop diagnostic, management, and treatment strategies for MDR-TB in the Baltic states and northwest Russia.

MDR-TB is a particularly dangerous and often deadly form of tuberculosis which is very difficult to manage and treat. Since the early 1990s, tuberculosis rates in the Baltic states and northwest Russia have risen steadily, and the levels of MDR-TB in Latvia and Estonia are among the highest in the world.

The first major activity at the center was a course for 22 physicians from throughout Latvia, to be held March 27-31, 2000. In the first year of operation, the center will focus its efforts in Latvia, but in keeping with the regional approach of NEI, the Center subsequently will include physicians and health experts from Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, and other neighboring countries to bolster the common effort to combat MDR-TB.

See the following web sites for more information.

[end of document]

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Northern European Initiative
Bureau of European Affairs
Department of State