Ukraine Degrades. The Elderly, the Poor and the Kids are Affected by the Outbreak of TB

Meanwhile, a tuberculosis outbreak has been registered in Ukraine. The contagious disease is spreading aggressively. Moreover, the majority of people with a confirmed diagnosis worked in public places and had contact with hundreds of people daily. Our report on why the authorities couldn't stop the illness of slums and sumps prepared by Aleksandr Katsuba. Tuberculosis in Ukraine is reaching an epidemic scale. At risk is the entire staff of an automotive company in Podolsk, Odesskaya Oblast. Five people have already been diagnosed with this deadly disease. Notably, each one is a passenger bus driver. Sergey Ginkul, driver: "I can't name any names since our population is scared. Either they or their relatives will lose their jobs". The doctors on TV are assuring that the situation is under control. The company temporarily stopped operating, the entire staff is undergoing screenings, while the medics keep registering new cases of the disease. Sergey Vovk, Medical Director, Podolsk Regional Hospital: "We diagnosed 32 people, 2 of them are children. They are all in a bad condition". Tuberculosis affects the most vulnerable social groups. The elderly, the poor, and the kids. The Odesskaya Oblast is leading in the number of cases: 110 sick per every 100K of population, and there's no medication. And in Podolsk, the tuberculosis dispensary was closed to make room for a retirement home. Anatoliy Tiora, Podolsk resident: "The tuberculosis dispensary that could have consolidated the sick instead of spreading this infection, this terrible disaster, was destroyed". This is Ivano-Frankovskaya Oblast, the local perinatal center has been lacking TB vaccines for several months. Newborns are being dispatched without the required vaccines. No one knows when the vaccine will finally arrive. Sergey Kravchenko, immunologist, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Medical Ass'n: "Since 2014, there's been a downfall in the procurement process of medications, medical equipment, and immunobiological drugs, such as vaccines and serums. In 2015, 2016, 2017, the procurement also failed. In 2018, it hasn't even started". Parents refuse to take their kids to Daycare no.7 in Nikolayev. One of the nannies has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. "I'm curious why the whole daycare wasn't disinfected, instead of just one classroom". Zakarpatskaya Oblast also reported a TB outbreak amongst children. Vasily Skrip, Medical Director, Zakarpatskiy Regional Tuberculosis Dispensary: "This is the worst case of the disease level in 20 years. Last year, we had 17 extreme TB cases among children". The neighboring EU has already expressed their concerns about this situation. Aleksandr Katsuba, Aleksandr Andrushkin, Vesti.