LUSAKA - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the
Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, and the
Ministry of Home Affairs gathered to mark the culmination of the TB CARE I project. Jointly
funded by USAID and the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR), TB CARE I was a collaborative activity between the United States and Zambian
governments to reduce the burden of tuberculosis (TB) by providing the latest
diagnostic technologies and training for increased TB detection and treatment.
"Over the past five years our partnership has directly reached close to three million people,
even in the most rural areas of the country, with information and services for TB control," said
USAID Senior Health Advisor Dr. George Sinyangwe.
In the 2010 World Health Organization Global Tuberculosis Report, Zambia was listed as having
one of the world's highest rates of new cases of TB, with more than 300 infected per 100,000
people that year. In response, the United States and Zambian governments partnered to launch
TB CARE I, which provided training for more than 3,000 health care workers, including more than
600 laboratory staff at 144 TB diagnostic facilities. The training in TB
