Vietnam has instituted strict lockdown procedures in many locations in order to control the spread of COVID19. However, TB continues to be a persistent problem, killing over 13,000 per year, and access to TB services has been severely limited due to the pandemic response. Many families who are impacted by TB are facing unemployment, food shortages and challenges obtaining consistent medication. Your donation will allow FIT to provide treatment adherence support packages to people with TB.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains an intractable problem across Vietnam with over 170,000 people developing the disease and ~13,000 dying each year. The latest outbreak of COVID19 has caused many disruptions to TB services and people on TB treatment have faced difficulties obtaining TB medication as transportation routes have been limited. Furthermore, the pandemic has caused widespread income insecurity and employment. The patients we serve are reporting that they often cannot afford nutritious food.
Our project aims to deliver support packages to TB patients who have been severely impacted by the economic effects of COVID19 by providing home delivery of medications and nutritional support packages. Every 25 USD, we will provide nutritional support to 1 TB patient and 10 USD provides one-month of medicine delivery to a patient's home. We hope to deliver monthly medication packages to the homes of at least 250 TB patients and provide nutritional support to 300 households with TB.
Our long-term goal is to improve the treatment of people with TB. Inconsistently taking TB medications or stopping treatment early can cause drug resistance, additional transmission of TB, and prolong suffering. We aim to ensure that these TB patients have adequate food and medication throughout the full course of their treatment.
