FIJI has been applauded by the World Health Organization for having a tuberculosis treatment success rate higher than international standards.
WHO regional TB consultant Dr Ogtay Gozalov said the progress Fiji had made in the treatment of TB needed to be recognised.
"Fiji has done a lot to address the messages and challenges existing here in the country, during the last couple of years. The treatment success rate is much higher than international standards and your country now faces achieving a zero level of drug resistant tuberculosis," Dr Gozalov said.
"The Ministry of Health with the help of international donors like The Global Fund, AusAID and technical support from the WHO has had success in directing these efforts towards primary and community health care, your country has achieved a lot," he said.
And this sentiment was echoed by international donors The Global Fund which provided a grant of around $20million to combat TB and assist the country in achieving its millennium development goals.
Grant manager Vasiti Nawadra Taylor said the grant, in its second and final phase, was showing true promise in assisting attempts to eradicate TB.
"When you look at the 2010 cohort, only about 67 per cent of cases diagnosed with TB were successfully treated. Now, when you look at the 2011 cohort, efforts from the ministry, the Global Fund and other technical partners, Fiji has actually a success rate of 93 per cent."