Dr Mark Jacobs, the Head of the Communicable Diseases Division of WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Dr Woojin Lew, the Senior Programme Coordinator and technical staff of WHO Representative's Office in Mongolia met today with the Minister of Health of Mongolia, Dr Tsogtsetseg Ayush and her team. The parties have discussed the issues of TB prevalence, burden of STIs and viral hepatitis, measles outbreak and zoonotic and neglected diseases in Mongolia. “The spread of sexually transmitted infections in Mongolia is worrisome as STIs comprise over 45 percent of all communicable diseases in the country”, said the Minister, Dr A.Tsogtsetseg. “And a growing number of congenital syphilis cases is a big concern. Hence it’s important to direct the public health policies into contact tracing, treatment and most importantly prevention of STIs.”
The Minister also expressed her concern about the timely diagnostic and treatment of TB given the fact that 4000 new cases of TB are registered every year in Mongolia. Dr A. Tsogtsetseg asked for WHO technical support in handling TB especially the situation with the increasing cases of multi-drug resistant TB. The Minister conveyed an appreciation of WHO support in tackling viral hepatitis and measles and requested for further WHO technical expertise on combatting TB, measles and eliminating congenital syphilis.
Dr Jacobs has complemented Mongolia's health sector policies and performance in general and mentioned that in some areas, for example, in viral hepatitis prevention and treatment Mongolia is one of the leading countries in the Region. Hospital infection control was discussed as a serious issue demanding a particular attention to. The parties have agreed that strengthening the overall health system in the country will offer fundamental solutions to handling challenging issues in the health care system including prevention and treatment of communicable and non- communicable diseases.