VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNT #0388 0920610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010610Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9454
INFO RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 0073
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 3860
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 4475
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0353

UNCLAS TASHKENT 000388 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO PREL KPAO UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN - WORLD TB DAY ACTIVITIES 
 
REF:  State 26078 
 
¶1.  (U) Per reftel, to mark World TB Day, Post devoted a session of 
its weekly Chay Chat Conversation Club to the topic of Tuberculosis 
and the challenge that it presents in Uzbekistan and around the 
world. On March 14, Dr. Benjamin Mills of the U.S. Agency for 
International Development (USAID) highlighted the crisis that TB 
represents and caught the audience's attention when he told them 
that 40,000 people in Uzbekistan have active TB, a number that puts 
Uzbekistan 10th on the list of countries with the highest number of 
TB cases. Dr. Mills also described common symptoms of TB infection 
and offered some tips for how people can avoid becoming infected. He 
described treatments that are available for TB and stressed that 
virtually all forms of TB are curable. Finally, he told the audience 
about several ongoing projects in Uzbekistan that aim to raise 
public awareness about the disease and explained how USAID is 
collaborating with the government of Uzbekistan and NGO partners to 
implement several of them. He closed his presentation by showing a 
never-before-aired public service announcement that soon will be 
airing nationwide on television in both Russian and Uzbek. 
 
¶2.  (U) Through this informal conversation with approximately 100 
young people and educators, the presenter raised awareness about 
this global problem and provided them with tips on how they can stay 
healthy and protect themselves from this infectious disease. Guests 
learned about the latest developments in global efforts to fight 
tuberculosis (TB) and also had the opportunity to collect 
information about TB. Post distributed several America.gov articles 
on the subject, as well as the brand-new issue of post's in-house 
quarterly newsletter Do'stlik ("friendship" in Uzbek). 
 
NORLAND