As one of seven countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region with a high burden of TB, Mongolia was selected as one of the trial countries. In 2019, the estimated incidence rate for TB was 428 per 100,000 population. In 2019, 4,277 TB cases were notified. It is also estimated that 7% of new cases and 11% of previously treated cases were MDR/RR-TB. In 2017, MDR/RR-TB treatment was initiated in 216 patients, of which 56% were treated successfully.
The National Centre for Communicable Diseases (NCCD), located in Ulaanbaatar, is the main Mongolian partner for the STREAM trial. This agency is devoted to administering and managing the control, prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, and treatment of communicable diseases. One of their central goals is to reduce the spread of TB and TB-related deaths.
For STREAM Stage 1, a total of 33 participants were enrolled in Mongolia.
Given the successful implementation of Stage 1 in Mongolia the site was an excellent candidate to continue into the second stage of the trial. Mongolia was the first country to recruit patients into Stage 2 and enrolled 130 participants in Stage 2.