USAID programs focus on increasing access to key services to help prevent the transmission and contain the expansion of infectious diseases such as TB, HIV/AIDS, and COVID-19. Kazakhstan’s rising growth of drug-resistant tuberculosis continues to present a major challenge to the country’s public health system. Despite significant progress made, HIV/AIDS remains a significant public health challenge, particularly affecting people who inject drugs and their sexual partners.

To combat TB, USAID supports activities that improve the delivery of prevention, care and treatment services; enhance the capacities of institutions to address multidrug-resistant-TB (MDR-TB); and develop systems to strengthen the diagnosis of drug-resistant-TB; and improve infection control practices. USAID works with public health institutions officials to expand use of patient-centered outpatient treatment approaches. USAID also helps health providers, communities, and patients to understand and address the treatment and care of TB and MDR-TB. Finally, USAID is helping to facilitate implementation of GeneXpert, a U.S. technology that will greatly expedite the diagnosis of MDR-TB.

Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), USAID works with the Government of Kazakhstan and in close collaboration with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to expand access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care services for the most at-risk populations and to reduce barriers, including stigma and discrimination that constrain knowledge of their status and limit their access to services. USAID also focuses on enabling national and local institutions and non-governmental organizations to more effectively lead the planning, delivery and monitoring of support services. USAID’s HIV/AIDS programs are primarily focused on providing services to at-risk populations in East Kazakhstan, which has a relatively high rate of HIV/AIDS transmission that occurs through intravenous drug use. USAID also works with national institutions to ensure the country has access to modern and cost-effective treatment methods.

Results:

• USAID works in partnership with Kazakhstan's National Tuberculosis Program to combat TB and DR-TB, contributing to a 50% decrease in the number of new TB cases in the last eight years.
• In FY 2019, USAID purchased and transferred 50 GeneXpert machines to the Kazakhstan Ministry of Health, which has significantly expanded access to rapid diagnostics for TB and DR-TB.
• USAID has supported the handover of HIV/AIDS data management systems to local health care facilities, enabling them to conduct more effective case management and improve service delivery for people living with HIV.
• USAID has worked with the Government of Kazakhstan to test and adopt client-centered HIV strategies such as index testing and HIV self-testing, and to adopt policies to support people living with HIV such as multi-month dispensation of antiretroviral therapy.

USAID has also worked to support Kazakhstan’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, working with the Ministry of Health to provide training and technical assistance to medical providers, strengthen the testing capacity of laboratories, and promote hygiene practices aimed at preventing COVID-19 transmission.