An assessment mission led by the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office Stop TB advisor was conducted from 2 to 8 March 2013. The mission reviewed the situation of Tuberculosis control activities in the country including laboratory network and national reference laboratory.
The main purpose of the mission was to identify gaps, challenges and advise on the action points to scale up the national Tuberculosis programme performance.
The mission findings indicated Libya as a moderate TB burden country with alarming findings on TB/HIV co-morbidity. The latest global TB report (WHO 2012) estimated TB incidence in Libya for 2011 as 40 per 100 000, TB prevalence as 60 per 100 000, TB mortality as 5.9 per 100 000. The national Tuberculosis control programme in Libya reasonably strong political commitment. Drug management system is in place and national reference laboratory is well equipped and maintained to process direct smear tests, culture, and Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and TB bacilli identification.
