Interview with Ihor Bukhinevych, the first patient to be cured of drug-resistant tuberculosis through MSF's DR-TB treatment project in Zhytomyr, Ukraine.

Description:
In May of last year Ihor, 33, was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and enrolled in MSF’s then brand new project at the Zhytomyr Regional Tuberculosis Hospital in northwestern Ukraine. The goal of the pilot project, which is run in cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, is to illustrate that an effective model of treatment for DR-TB can be implemented in Ukraine. Ukraine, which has been suffering a TB epidemic since 1995, has one of the world’s highest rates of DR-TB yet only half of DR-TB patients are treated successfully. Ten months after beginning treatment Ihor met up with staff members from MSF and the Ministry of Health who had overseen his treatment to celebrate his status as the first patient from the project to be cured of TB.

The speed of Ihor’s treatment is new in Ukraine. The conventional treatment for DR-TB used in most of the country lasts nearly two years and requires patients to stay for several months, sometimes years, in a TB hospital. Thanks to MSF’s innovative approach, Ihor was discharged from the hospital after just two months and was able to continue his care while living at home and visiting a local clinic for his medications. During the entire process, MSF’s patient support team, composed of nurses, social workers and mental health professionals, was available to help Ihor overcome obstacles he faced, such as side effects from the medications, depression and rejection by friends and family.