DUSHANBE, August 24, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- German government-owned development bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), will provide 6.9 million euros to Tajikistan for implementation of the fourth phase of the tuberculosis prevention project, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) of Tajikistan said.

An appropriate grant agreement on this subject was signed in Dushanbe on August 22.  The document was penned by Mr. Farrukh Hamraliyev, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan, and Ms. Olga Gefele, the KfW project manager in Asian countries.

The funds will go to supporting enhancement of quality of service at the republican TB hospital, Machiton, in Vahdat district and rehabilitation and re-equipment of the Dehmoy hospital in Sughd province, the source noted.

Tajikistan has the highest Tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate in the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) European Region. The risk factors include lack of public awareness on prevention, symptoms and treatment of tuberculosis, delayed diagnostics and interrupted or incomplete treatment regimes.