The International Red Cross is to provide some 300,000 British pounds ($455,971) to fund a program to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. The organization estimated the number of persons suffering from that disease in Kyrgyzstan at 100,000, and in Turkmenistan at 90,000, with some 9,400 new cases diagnosed annually in each country. (The population of Kyrgyzstan is 4.99 million, and of Turkmenistan, 5.72 million). A Western diplomat in Ashgabat recently told "RFE/RL Newsline" that tuberculosis is so prevalent in Turkmenistan that doctors have been ordered not to keep records of the number of cases they treat. (RFE/RL)