On 25 June 2019 , the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and USAID committed to deepen their partnership to end Tuberculosis (TB) in Bangladesh. The newStatement of Partnership (SP) establishes a shared framework between the MoHFW and USAID to reducethe incidence of tuberculosis by 2022 through increasing case detection and treatment of all forms of TB. This partnership marks the latest example of USAID’s new model of partnership, the “Global Accelerator to End Tuberculosis,” which aims to catalyze investments and aid countries across the worldand meet the UN target of treating 40 million people by 2022. Through their signature, the MoHFW also reaffirmed Bangladesh’s commitment to significantly reduce cases of TB by 2022. At the signing,USAID Mission Director Derrick Brown noted, “Today, by signing the Statement of Partnership,we at USAID recommit ourselves as a close partner of the Bangladesh government, as the country accelerates its efforts to achieve their targets by 2022. Bangladesh needs to detect and treat more than 1.5 million new TB cases over the next five years. USAID Bangladesh will strongly collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in their mission of identifying, preventing, and treating all undetected forms of TB cases.”
Bangladesh treated more than 2.5 million TB cases in 2018. However, almost 26% of cases remain undetected and the rate is even higher for the multi-drug resistant TB cases and child TB cases. Through the signing of the partnership statement,USAID Bangladesh will be a technical partner of the Bangladesh government in their journey towards ending TB in Bangladesh.USAID Bangladesh’s TB investments will focus on strengthening the laboratory and diagnostic services, detection and treatment of all forms of Tuberculosis, and preventive therapy.
The U.S. government, through USAID, has provided more than $7 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh since 1971. In 2018, USAID provided nearly $219 million to improve the lives of people in Bangladesh through programs that expand food security and economic opportunity, improve health and education, promote democratic institutions and practices, protect the environment, and increase resiliency to climate change.