Deputy Prime Minister, Azim Ibrohim, has criticized the National Coordination Committee to Combat HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for improper implementation of the TB prevention and control program, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.

His criticism reportedly came during an address to the next meeting of the National Coordination Committee to Combat HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that took place in Dushanbe on February 28.

Speaking at the meeting, Ibrohim, in particular noted that 1.3 million U.S dollars of 17.6 million U.S. dollars allocated for implementation of that program had remained unutilized.

According to him, the main reasons for that were low qualification of some employees and insufficient explanatory work carried out among vulnerable sections of the population. 

At the same time, Azim Ibrohim expressed gratitude to the Global Fund, the World Health Organization, USAID and other international organizations for their support to enhance Tajikistan’s health sector.