On February 23, the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) donated 156 cutting-edge tuberculosis (TB) testing machines – worth $3 million – to the people of Ethiopia.  These new machines will reduce the time it takes to diagnose TB from as long as six weeks to two hours.  USAID Mission Director Scott Hocklander handed over these GeneXpert machines to H.E. Dr. Dereje Duguma State Minister for the Ministry of Health (MOH) at the ALERT Hospital in Addis Ababa.   

TB is the leading infectious disease in Ethiopia and globally, claiming the lives of over 21,000 Ethiopians annually – more than HIV and malaria combined.  That is equivalent to 60 deaths every day.  Over the past two decades, USAID has partnered with the MoH and other stakeholders to diagnose every person with TB, cure those who need treatment, prevent the spread of new infections, and generate evidence and rapid uptake of new technologies and medicines to move Ethiopians towards eliminating TB.