Oct. 20, 2022
Europe
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Patient and health-care provider experience of a person-centred, multidisciplinary, psychosocial support and harm reduction programme for patients with harmful use of alcohol and drug-resistant tuberculosis in Minsk, Belarus
Tuberculosis (TB) often concentrates in groups of people with complex health and social issues, including alcohol use disorders (AUD). Risk of TB, and poor TB treatment outcomes, are substantially elevated in people who have AUD. Médecins sans Frontières and the Belarus Ministry of Health have worked to improve treatment adherence in patients with multi-drug or rifampicin resistant (MDR/RR)-TB and harmful use of alcohol. In 2016, a person-centred, multidisciplinary, psychosocial support and harm reduction programme delivered by TB doctors, counsellors, psychiatrists, health-educators, and social workers was initiated. In 2020, we described patient and provider experiences within the programme as part of a wider evaluation.