The North Korean Ministry of Health granted Eugene Bell access to another four TB Centers expanding the number of patients under care by more than 100%…
In the last year and a half, Eugene Bell’s program in North Korea has grown from six centers to twelve increasing the number of patients under care from 578 in 2012 to an estimated 1,500 in 2014. Not only is the number of patients receiving life-saving care from Eugene Bell going up but we are seeing significant gains in outcomes as well. In 2013, cure rates for the program steadily improved and Eugene Bell Foundation anticipates breaking 70% with new patients admitted into the program in 2014. Enhanced procedures, improved quality drugs, and state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment are being credited for these tremendous gains.
While Eugene Bell Foundation is thrilled with these performance trends they realize even with this success the program is the only major Multi-Drug Resistant TB effort in North Korea and they are only reaching 10-15% of the need. Aggressive growth is needed to continue to meet the need of the North Korean people to stop the unnecessary suffering and death of thousands.
The Eugene Bell Foundation is a charitable organization committed to ending the unnecessary death from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in North Korea. Visit www.eugene-bell.org to learn more and to donate. Together we can save lives, restore families and instill hope directly to the hard to reach people of North Korea.