MINSK, Belarus — When tuberculosis strikes, it’s the beginning of a long journey for the patient. Standard “drug-susceptible” TB requires taking four antimicrobial drugs every day for at least six months. Often, patients start to feel better before finishing treatment, which can lead some to stop taking their medication. This is one way the journey can veer off course. It can also lead to drug resistance, because the tuberculosis bacteria hasn’t been wiped out.
In Belarus, more than 38% of new TB cases are drug-resistant. The global average is just over 4%.
Drug-resistant TB is curable. But the second-line drugs are more toxic and require up to two years of treatment. The journey becomes particularly arduous during this time, as people are isolated – fearing the stigma associated with TB and often unable to work or go to school. But keeping patients on treatment is essential to winning the fight against TB.
In Minsk, Red Cross volunteers provide support to TB patients on their journey to wellness.
“Volunteers provide counseling and psychosocial support over the phone. People are on treatment for a long time, so volunteers help maintain adherence and avoid interruption,” says Red Cross psychologist Elena Yashehenko, who manages the volunteers. “It’s also about connecting people to services: clothing, food, job services. After six months in the hospital, patients frequently don’t have a job to return to. And another 18 months on treatment, with the stigma of TB, it can be difficult to find work.”
“In my life, I’ve taken care of many relatives – my husband, mother and father, grandfather – so I know what it takes. I’m a retired person, and my friend told me volunteering was interesting, with lots of communication with people who need support with this disease,” says Lidya Davidchik, who has volunteered since 2016.
“You get an emotional connection to the patients you support. Often, patients are simply looking for communication. They are lonely and just need people to talk to. If they have family, then it is much easier to be cured. Lonely men in particular find it hard to maintain the will to get better. But we explain that giving up will only mean having to start again.”
“The main factor is the wish of the person to be cured,” observed TB patient Alexander Nekrash. “There are some patients who don’t understand how important it is to be fully cured. Nurses have to make visits to try to get them back, but some people just don’t want to go to the hospital. Even when someone doesn’t want to try, the nurses and doctors still work hard and do their best to treat these people. We have the treatment, but a person has to want to be cured.”
The journey from diagnosis to cure isn’t easy for tuberculosis patients. But they don’t have to make it alone. The Global Fund supports health professionals, community health workers and dedicated volunteers in Belarus and around the world who provide a needed lifeline when the going gets tough.
© 2026 The Global Fund
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