Experience in organizing and conducting a Polish­Ukrainian project «Transfer of good practices in diagnosis, treatment and epidemiological surveillance of multidrug­resistant tuberculosis in Eastern Ukraine»

Abstract

The problem of detection and treatment of tuberculosis, especially multidrug-resistant, remains relevant in the world. This article analyzes the situation with tuberculosis in Poland and Ukraine in modern conditions. The joint work of Polish and Ukrainian specialists is presented on the example of the Polish hospital Edmund Wojtyla Lesser Poland Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases and Rehabilitation, Jaroszowiec, Poland and various medical and higher educational institutions of Ukraine. Polish doctors and specialists have long worked on the study of new modern methods of diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis. The annual congresses held in Krakow were devoted to this issue. In 2019, a Polish—Ukrainian project was prepared and implemen­ted «Transfer of good practices in diagnosis, treatment and epidemiological surveillance of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in Eastern Ukraine». The project was developed by the Polish Humanitarian Team in collabo­ration with Director Krzysztof Grzesik and the Edmund Wojtyla Lesser Poland Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases and Rehabilitation, Jaroszowiec, which proposed some of the activities. It included a stay and mutual cooperation in transferring good practices of both doctors, medical staff, students and hospital directors from several cities in Ukraine. Ukrainian healthcare representatives became acquainted with the achievements in Jaroszowiec, the Mycobacterium Laboratory in Krakow, the Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in Warsaw and its field unit in Rabka-Zdrój. The second part of the project was to transfer knowledge and Polish experience gained during trainings conducted in Poland, with social workers and hospital staff in Ukraine (in Petro­pavlovsk, Mariupol, Lutsk and Ternopil), as well as with health workers in Mariupol. Given the need to ensure the continuity of treatment and diagnosis of tuberculosis in modern conditions, to respond to the challenges associated with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it is necessary to unite the efforts of doctors and other specialists in Poland and Ukraine to achieve positive results.