Skip to main content
DMITRY Story: “I have nowhere to go.”
War in Gaza:: find out how we're responding
Learn more
We are working with the Ministry of Health in Belarus to improve adherence to treatment for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and a dependence on substances such as alcohol.

According to WHO's latest report, Belarus is listed as a multidrug-resistant TB high burden country. We are supporting the Ministry of Health in four TB facilities across Minsk city and region. Minsk is also a site for two clinical studies into shorter, innovative TB regimens which use newer TB drugs, TB PRACTECAL and endTB.

In Orsha, teams also treat inmates of a prison with DR-TB and co-infections such as hepatitis C, for which they receive direct-acting antiviral drugs.

Our activities in 2022 in Belarus

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2022.

MSF in Belarus in 2022 In Belarus, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) continued to support the national tuberculosis (TB) programme and provide medical and humanitarian assistance to people on the move.
Belarus IAR map 2022

In 2022, our team in the capital, Minsk, completed the final phase of the TB-PRACTECAL clinical trial, which was conducted across seven global sites and aimed to identify a new treatment regimen for patients with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). This all-oral, shorter regimen has proved to be more tolerable and more effective.

In May, the World Health Organization released communication on the guidance for the treatment of MDR-TB, recommending programmatic use of the TB-PRACTECAL regimen in place of the longer, existing regimens. Consequently, our teams supported the roll-out of the new regimen in Belarus under the SMARRTT (six-month all-oral regimens for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis treatment) operational study, with 300 patients enrolled by the end of October.

We also continued to work in the penitentiary system, supporting the treatment of hepatitis C and TB, and in one location, the provision of mental health care.

Throughout 2022, thousands of people continued to travel to Belarus in the hope of crossing into the EU. Our teams offered medical and humanitarian assistance to people who had sustained injuries during attempts to cross or when exposed to harsh weather conditions while stranded in the forested border area. MSF continues to advocate for people on the move and call for greater humanitarian assistance to be provided for them. 

 

In 2022
Andrey and Polina TB Patients
This experience has changed our outlook on life. Polina, a patient taking part in MSF's TB trial

Tackling TB together

 
Acute humanitarian crisis at the Belarusian borders with the EU
Belarus

Two years of response to the acute humanitarian crisis at EU’s eastern borders

Project Update 28 Feb 2024
 
Rescue - Rotation 51
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

EU policies promote violence by denying safety and protection to refugees and migrants

Press Release 21 Feb 2024
 
Militarised Polish-Belarus border Kozie Borki natural park
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

Death, despair and destitution: The human costs of the EU’s migration policies

Report 20 Feb 2024
 
Forest in Podlaskie region
Poland

People continue to cross Belarus-Poland border in search of safety in Europe

Press Release 19 Dec 2023
 
TB Treatment | MoH TB doctor
Belarus

A revolution in TB treatment leads to safer and more effective practice

Project Update 31 Oct 2022
 
Forest in Podlaskie region
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

MSF leaves Polish border after being blocked from assisting people

Press Release 6 Jan 2022