Tuberculosis is prevalent in the TAR. Based on 1990 data from the Chinese Ministry of Health, TB prevalence in Chamdo Prefecture alone was 1,023 per 100,000. Due to limited resources, the Chamdo Prefecture TB Hospital is only able to treat approximately 200 pulmonary patients per year.

To address this issue, Terma has designed a five-year prevention and control plan for TB, first to be piloted in Chamdo Prefecture and ultimately to be implemented in other regions of Tibet. In collaboration with the TAR Regional Public Health Bureau and the Anti-Epidemic Station in Chamdo, Terma will provide the health worker training, medical equipment and supplies needed to support a successful TB eradication program. The eradication of tuberculosis is a very immediate global concern, as current TB treatment practices in this escalating endemic area are creating fatal multidrug-resistant strains of TB.

Terma completed distribution of eleven portable x-ray machines to each of the eleven counties in Chamdo Prefecture and sponsored two training seminars in their usage. Terma now supports TB trainings throughout the hospital system by doctors at Prefecture levels to doctors at county and community levels. Seventy Chamdo county level doctors received formal medical training in TB under our auspices in six months. Topics included biotechnology and electrical principles associated with radiology, drug pharmacology, clinical diagnoses, patient follow-up, routes of transmission, and global epidemiology.