Ghana Stop TB Video
Bice Osei Kuffour aka Obour - Musician and Ghana TB Ambassador has written a TB Song which aims to educate the people of Ghana on TB prevention and control, remind people to seek early treatment since TB is curable and that treatment is FREE, and dispel the misconception that TB is a curse but a disease which can be cured.
Latest News
WHO/Stop TB Department Survey
The World Health Organization and the Stop TB Partnership are looking ahead to the opportunities and challenges after 2015 to expand and accelerate the impact of the world’s efforts to prevent and treat tuberculosis, and to support all those affected by this epidemic. They need your views and ideas and have developed an online questionnaire to get feedback on our current Stop TB Strategy and targets, as well as your own visions for the future.
New Stop TB Department Newsletter
The first edition of the WHO Stop TB Department quarterly newsletter - Stop TB e-focus is now available. Its purpose is to provide information and updates on the WHO’s efforts to advance universal access to TB prevention, care and control. It highlights key WHO products and publications, web news and meetings.
Pakistan TB Prevalence Survey Preliminary Results
The prevalence survey of Pulmonary TB in Pakistan 2010-11 confirms that there are 295 cases of TB per 100,000 of the adult population over the age of 15 years. These preliminary findings allow for more informed decision-making by removing the reliance on obsolete data derived from estimations and should enhance Pakistan's ability to combat the disease more effectively. The TB CARE I Deputy Director for Technical Services, Dr Jeroen van Gorkom said, "The work has just begun. As we count the number of TB patients detected in Pakistan each year, we know that many layers of the population still do not have access to required facilities for registration, diagnosis and treatment."
World TB Day 24th March 2012
TB CARE I celebrated World TB Day in several provinces of Afghanistan on the 24/3/12 with various events which were covered by the media. The picture shows the interview of a TB smear positive patient under treatment for the past 1.5 months in one of the remote urban facilities in Kabul city recently opened DOTS services with the support of TB CARE I.
Tuberculosis (TB), an ancient disease, has plagued mankind for millennia. TB is activated when an individual’s immune system is weakened by any number of causal factors: old age, malnutrition, pregnancy, HIV, and other factors, such as diabetes. It is estimated that more than one-third of the population in the developing world who are exposed to these conditions are infected with the disease. However, TB is curable with treatment, which means this terrible disease can be stopped. Join the World TB Day celebrations and strive to stop TB in our lifetime.
To coincide with the annual World TB Day, USAID has published a two page brochure which tells some of the powerful stories of former TB patients from around the world whose lives have been impacted by this debilitating disease.
A briefing and update on tuberculosis, a disease which is curable but still takes the lives of 4,000 people each day and is the number one killer of people living with HIV. Special areas of focus of the briefing include US global leadership on TB, how communities are addressing the crisis, the threat of drug-resistant TB, and progress towards an effective vaccine, better medications and faster diagnostics.
New TB Infection Control resource page on CDC website
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA) has launched a TB infection control (TB-IC) resource page. The materials published there are based on the WHO Policy on TB Infection Control in Health-Care Facilities, Congregate Settings and Households (2009) and emphasize basic, simple activities that can be performed at the facility level to begin implementation of TB infection control. A 15-minute training video is available in English and French and is designed to address pre- and in-service training needs. All the materials are available for download.
Vietnam Receives First GeneXpert Machines
On February 6th, 2012 TB CARE I collaborated with Vietnam National TB Program (NTP) to organize a ceremony to commemorate the delivery of the first 2 Xpert MTB/RIF diagnostic systems out of 17 machines which will be provided under the TB CARE I Project. The ceremony which took place at the National Lung Hospital, was attended by representatives of USAID (including the Country Director Mr. Francis Donovan), KNCV, WHO, MSH, FIND, CDC and representatives of the TB CARE I's local partners including the NTP and Central 74 Hospital. Two media articles on the event are linked to below (both in Vietnamese):
Operations Research Course - Cambodia
TB CARE I recently held an Operations Research course in Cambodia, a collaboration between KNCV, FHI 360 and WHO, with support from CDC. The course focused on developing new research on the following topics:
- • Improving Screening in Childhood TB
- • Low case detection among MDR suspects
- • A randomized control trial to improve the referral of risk groups in PPM and C-DOTS
- • Barriers to TB diagnosis among the Elderly – A Case-Control Study using Prevalence Survey data
Photovoices - Dominican Republic
Photovoices is a project in the Dominican Republic which aims to uncover the the human face of TB. Using photography and accompanying text, TB patients express their feelings and experiences, whilst driving both education and discussion on the subject of Tuberculosis. Selected photos can be seen in the form of a slideshow, which is available in English and Spanish.
TB CARE I Dominican Republic Director Wins Award
TB CARE I country director in the Dominican Republic Dr. Luis Alberto Rodríguez Reyes, M.D. has been awarded the ‘Premio Nacional de la Juventud Santo Domingo 2012’ (National Youth Award Santo Domingo 2012) in the category ‘Most Outstanding Contribution to Health' this prestigious prize was awarded on the ‘Día Nacional de la Juventud’ (National Youth Day). TB CARE I is very proud that Dr Luis Alberto is part of our team and we wish him all the best. We are confident that his contribution and that of the TB CARE I team will help in the fight against TB in the Dominican Republic. For more information on the award (in Spanish) click here.
Enrollment Complete for REMox TB
The TB Alliance is proud to announce the completion of enrollment of the Phase III REMox TB trial. REMox TB has been a pioneering endeavor that overcame many challenges in building the scientific and other infrastructure needed to conduct a global clinical trial to the highest regulatory standards. In total, more than 1,900 patients were enrolled in the trial, which could yield the first new drug approved for the treatment of drug-sensitive TB in nearly 50 years, and shorten treatment by a third. For more information click here.
Botswana NTRL Receives Accreditation
With technical support from TB CARE I and partners, the Botswana National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory has received ISO 15189 accreditation from SANAS (South Africa National Accreditation Systems). The NTRL is the only center providing TB Culture and Drug Susceptibility testing in the whole of Botswana.
Website for Step-wise approach to TB Lab Accreditation
The Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI) has developed a Stepwise Process towards TB Laboratory Accreditation to assist national level tuberculosis diagnostic laboratories implement a Quality Management System which meets international standards. This guide translates the requirements of the ISO 15189 international standard into step-by-step activities, structures them in an interactive roadmap and provides many user-modifiable support materials such as document templates, software and information.
Surviving XDR-TB Twice
What happens if you get extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis twice? Here is one woman's story, click the link below.
TB CARE I @ 42nd Union World Conference, Lille
TB CARE I took part in the 42nd Union Conference on Lung Health, which this year was held in the city of Lille, from the 26th-30th of October. The subject of this years conference was 'Partnerships for Scaling-up and Care'. Thanks to all the participants who stopped by our booth for a chat and we'll see you next year in Kuala Lumpur.
Country Directors Training
TB CARE I recently held a very successful 3 day (22nd-25th Sept) country directors meeting to train and inform our country directors. It was a chance for all our TB CARE I country directors to come together for and have the opportunity to build their capacity to maintain and strengthen their technical leadership in supporting national TB programs and managing the TB CARE I country projects.
Monitoring & Evaluation Training
TB CARE I organized and held a 4-day training event from September 19-22nd in The Hague, Netherlands. This Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) workshop was attended by 30 representatives from 16 different countries, made up of National TB Control Program (NTP) M&E Officers and TB CARE I/II and TB Task Order 2015 M&E Officers. The workshop was designed to strengthen the participants M&E knowledge and skills, along with connecting them to M&E officers from other countries. TB CARE I/II and TB Task Order 2015 M&E officers teamed up with NTP M&E staff to develop mini-M&E improvement workplans for the coming year, which are designed to address key M&E challenges.
Improving Chest X-Ray Reading in Kenya
A training of trainers on the improvement of Chest X-Ray reading was organized by Kenyan Division of Leprosy, TB and Lung Disease (DLTLD), with the support and technical assistance of TB CARE I. 25 provincial radiographers and TB supervisors attended the training in Milile Resort, Nakuru. Pre-training the group had an average test score of 61% which rose to over 89% post-training. The Radiographic department is preparing to introduce Digital Radiography, which will improve quality, can lead to a higher detection of TB and will reduce the costs of chest radiography in the long run.
GeneXpert
TB CARE I selected Nigeria as a country in which to rapidly expand GeneXpert/MTB RIF. TB CARE I is pleased to announce that the first 10 Gene Xpert tests have been performed in Nigeria albeit for training purposes. In total 31 GeneXpert machines have been procured in four countries. TB CARE I also supported a workshop in June to prepare for the implementation of GeneXpert with assistance from TB CARE I consultants.