Tuberculosis Incidence in Uzbekistan Declines Thanks to High-Tech Methods

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan reports significant progress in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis and lung diseases through the use of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis was diagnosed worldwide in 8.3 million people in 2025, with 1.2 million deaths recorded. In the post-COVID-19 period, experts have noted a rise in drug-resistant forms of the disease.

In Uzbekistan, the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Center of Phthisiology and Pulmonology is actively introducing modern diagnostic approaches. According to the center’s director, Nargiza Parpieva, the incidence of tuberculosis in the country has declined by 3.7 percent as a result of deploying the automated molecular diagnostic system BD MAX, which detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis using PCR technology within just two to three hours.

Short six-month treatment regimens for drug-resistant tuberculosis are also being applied, significantly accelerating recovery and improving patients’ quality of life.

Mobile “Healthy Lungs” teams operate across all regions, including hard-to-reach areas, using ultra-portable X-ray equipment, AI-based diagnostic systems, and dual-module GeneXpert units.

In 2025, the center introduced 12 new diagnostic and treatment methods, including minimally invasive arthrotomies and phthisiourological surgeries. Professional training for 35 specialists was conducted in Denmark, China, Russia, and Belarus, while six memorandums and cooperation agreements were signed with leading medical institutions in China, Belarus, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Kazakhstan.

Last year, the center provided medical care to 125 foreign patients, 78 of whom underwent high-technology surgical procedures.

Plans for 2026 include further expansion of technical capacity, with an additional 40 mobile AI-enabled X-ray units to be deployed in districts with high rates of respiratory infections, integration of data into the unified DHIS-2 electronic registry, expansion of telemedicine services, screening of one million people for latent tuberculosis infection, and free medical examinations for 200,000 residents of remote areas.

International experts from the WHO, the John Snow Institute, STOP TB, Swiss TPH, and LEAP TB Global are also involved in the center’s work, a collaboration expected to further enhance the quality of medical services and accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies in the diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases.