Ukraine has a population of 44 million people and an estimated TB incidence of 31,000 cases. An estimated proportion of TB cases with MDR/RR-TB is 31% for new cases and 45% for previously treated cases.

Ukraine conducted the BPaL operational research under TB REACH W7 with technical assistance from KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation. The country updated and approved the national DR-TB guidelines including all the WHO recommendations. Training was conducted, however it did not cover all the relevant areas due to the lack of funds at the time. Support from the government to complement the implementation process has been affected by the war. Currently, the implementation process is supported by PATH, OATH. TB-STARS, TB-LON, USAID.

About 850 people with DR-TB were planned to be enrolled into the BPaL-related regimens in 2023, where 400 were to continue the BPaL operational research and 450 enrol for programmatic implementation. Due to the war, data continues to be imprecise. From the current estimates, it is planned that 3400 patients will be placed on BPaL(M) regimens during 2024.

Ukraine is facing challenges due to the war including the health sector as many doctors have left country and may not return and the number of internally displaced people in West continue to increase significantly the burden on services in these areas.

Durint the ASCENT project, Ukraine used smart pill boxes and VST, but the VST app that was used for ASCENT (SureAdhere) was way less popular compared to using Viber or Skype and recording videos. People with DR-TB can be supported by DAT in either box or VST form. Currently, the NTP has approved the use of these non-specialized VST apps for patient support.