In 2016 CRS leveraged the robust infrastructure of its large, multi-sectoral orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program in Nigeria by expanding the program's core mandate to include community childhood TB casefinding, with a focus on highly vulnerable children and their caregivers
The WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region bears a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) and MDR-TB. In 2015, the Region accounted for nearly 200 000 or 35% of the global estimated new RR/MDR-TB cases eligible for treatment. Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDRTB) has also been reported from s...ix countries of the SEA Region. MDR-TB could potentially replace drug-susceptible TB, and constitutes a threat to global public health security. The South- East Asia Regional Response Framework for DR-TB 2017–2021 complements the Ending TB in the South-East Asia Region: Regional Strategic Plan 2016–2020” and outlines key strategies for reducing morbidity, mortality and transmission of DR-TB.
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In 2017, 3.6 million of the estimated 10 million people with TB worldwide were “missed” by national TB programmes (NTPs). Two thirds of them are thought to access TB treatment of questionable quality from public and private providers who are not engaged by the NTP. The quality of care provided i...n these settings is often not known or substandard. Closing these gaps and ensuring patient-centred care imply that quality-assured and affordable TB services must be made available wherever people choose to seek care.
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The practical guidance in the operational handbook aims to inform the development or revision of national policies and related implementation guidance on the management of TB in children and adolescents under programmatic circumstances and at different levels of the health system. The operational ha...ndbook can also help countries adequately plan for the uptake of interventions to better address the specific needs of children and adolescents with or at risk of TB. It can contribute to national efforts to build capacity among national and subnational programme managers and among health workers at all levels of the health care system.
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This Rapid Communication aims to inform national TB programmes and other stakeholders about the key implications of the latest evidence on the use of specific molecular assays as initial diagnostic tests of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB and RR-TB, in adults and children.
Adapted from a fact sheet on TB from the International Council of Nurse’s Global TB/MDR-TB Resource Centre at: http://www.icn.ch/tb/stigma.htm.
Accessed November 2017
This analysis focused on the chronic form of HAT caused by T. b. gambiense, as it contributes to the majority of disease burden. Information from the literature review,
product development landscape, and stakeholder interviews was compiled to:
- Identify use cases and understand current diagnosti...c practices and tools associated with each use case.
- Analyze progress toward robust diagnostics for HAT across different biomarkers.
- Develop recommendations for steps to improve the availability, access, and adoption of HAT diagnostic tools.
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Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has significantly helped in early diagnosis and commencement of specific interventions for diseases control. It also plays a critical role in understanding the disease epidemiology and unraveling the transmission dynamics of the disease. This manual intends to p...rovide primary guidelines to assist health lab personnel in developing countries to establish a PCR diagnostic facility for efficient support to patient care as well as public health actions.
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The Pharmaceutical Forum of the Americas (PFA) has previously published guidelines and organised campaigns for community pharmacists on the prevention, detection and control of arbovirus infections in 2018 with a grant from the FIP Foundation for Pharmacy Education and Research. Building on that exp...ertise, FIP joined efforts with the PFA and is now publishing its first-ever handbook to support pharmacists in the
area of vector-borne diseases. As the integration of the regional forums in FIP advances, such collaborative projects are tangible results of an increasingly regionally informed and regionally targeted work by FIP.
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NSP Review
Engaging with South Africa’s National Strategic Plan for HIV, STIs and TB Edition 7 July – August 2013
A publication of the Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27
GeneXpert: An imperfect rollout
TB in South African prisons: Where to now?
Decentralising DR-TB care: How far alon...g are we?
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These updates include shorter novel 6-month all-oral regimens for the treatment of multidrug- and rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB), with or without additional resistance to fluoroquinolones (pre-XDR-TB) as well as an alternative 9-month all-oral regimen for the treatment of MDR/RR-TB.
This Ra...pid Communication is released in advance of updated WHO consolidated guidelines expected later in 2022, to inform national TB programmes and other stakeholders of key changes in the treatment of DR-TB and to allow for rapid transition and planning at the country level.
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The third edition, released in 2018, has grown to include a total of 18 chapters, contributed by 20 experts and authors from many countries. The goal remains the same: to educate primary care providers on the best practices in TB diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. All articles are richly illustrate...d, and most include quizzes and CME questions for self learning. The 3rd edition includes new chapters on MDR-TB, adverse effects of TB drugs, adherence monitoring strategies, and nutritional support. There is also content on how to manage children with TB, care for patients co-infected with TB and HIV, how to read and interpret chest x-rays, and how to avoid common pitfalls in TB management.
To download book chapters or the whole book go to the website: http://www.letstalktb.org/download/
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Journal of Tuberculosis Research, 2017, 5, 189-200
Background: In Benin, little is known about the influence of both gender and
HIV-status on diagnostic patterns and treatment outcomes of Tuberculosis
(TB) patients. Objective: To assess whether differences in gender and HIV
status affect diagn...ostic patterns and treatment outcomes of TB patients. Methods:
Retrospective cohort study of patients registered in 2013 and 2014 in
the three largest TB Basic Management Units in south Benin. Results: Of 2694
registered TB patients, 1700 (63.1%) were male. Case notification rates were
higher in males compared with females (96 vs 53/100,000 inhabitants). The
male to female ratio was 1:1 in HIV positive patients, but was 2:1 among HIV
negative cases. In HIV-positive patients, there were no differences in TB types
between men and women. In HIV-negative patients, there were significantly
higher proportions of females with clinically diagnosed pulmonary TB (p =
0.04) and extrapulmonary TB (p < 0.001). Retreatment TB was 4.65 times
higher amongst males compared with females. For New bacteriologically confirmed
pulmonary TB, no differences were observed in treatment outcomes
between genders in the HIV positive group; but significantly more unfavorable
outcomes were reported among HIV negative males, with higher rates of
failure (p < 0.001) and loss-to-follow up (p = 0.02). Conclusion: The study
has shown that overall TB notification rates were higher in males than in females
in south Benin, with more females co-infected with HIV. Unfavorable outcomes were more common in HIV-negative males.
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In response to the recent publication “Is onchocerciasis elimination in Africa feasible by 2025: a perspective based on lessons learnt from the African control programmes” by Dadzie et al., it is important to clarify and highlight the positive and unequivocal research and operational contributio...ns from the American experience towards the worldwide elimination of human onchocerciasis (river blindness).
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Since 2000, concerted efforts by national programmes, supported by public–private partnerships, nongovernmental organizations, donors and academia under the auspices and coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO), have produced important achievements in the control of human African trypan...osomiasis (HAT). As a consequence, the disease was targeted for elimination as a public health problem by 2020. The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly endorsed this goal in resolution WHA66.12 on neglected tropical diseases, adopted in 2013.
National sleeping sickness control programmes (NSSCPs) are core to progressing control of the disease and in adapting to the different epidemiological situations. The involvement of different partners, as well as the support and trust of long-term donors, has been crucial for the achievements.
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The Guidelines for the Prevention, Surveillance and Management of COVID-19 Infection amongst Health Care Workers (HCW) in Zimbabwe were developed to prevent, detect and manage HCW COVID-19 infection, an emerging pandemic affecting the whole world. The HCW is at the fore front of this pandemic, thus ...the need for standardised operating procedures is of utmost importance. These guidelines therefore seek to reduce the significant morbidity and mortality among the HCW, ultimately ensuring the reduction of the cost to the health care worker and the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) as a whole. The Ministry of Health and Child Care requires that all health care workers in various health care settings follow infection prevention and control procedures.
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The roadmap describes the actions needed to
achieve the three development goals for TB
vaccines set by the WHO:
1. A safe, effective and affordable TB vaccine
for adolescents and adults.
2. An affordable TB vaccine for neonates and
infants with improved safety and efficacy.
3. A therapeutic v...accine to improve TB
treatment outcomes
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Because of the limited access to more powerful diagnostic tools, there is a paucity of data regarding the burden of fungal infections in Burkina Faso. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of serious fungal infections in this sub-Saharan country. We primarily used the na...tional demographic data and performed a PubMed search to retrieve all published papers on fungal infections from Burkina Faso and its surrounding West African countries. Considering the prevalence of HIV infection (0.8% of the population) and a 3.4% incidence of cryptococcosis in hospitals, it is estimated that 459 patients per year develop cryptococcosis. For pneumocystosis, it is suggested that 1013 new cases occur every year. Taking into account the local TB frequency (population prevalence at 0.052%), we estimate the prevalence of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis at 1120 cases. Severe forms of asthma with fungal sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis are estimated to affect 7429 and 5628 cases, respectively. Vulvovaginal candidiasis may affect 179,000 women, and almost 1,000,000 children may suffer from tinea capitis. Globally, we estimate that roughly 1.4 million people in Burkina Faso (7.51% of the population) suffer from a serious fungal infection. These data should be used to drive future epidemiological studies, diagnostic approaches, and therapeutic strategies.
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“It has never been more urgent for us to come together to end HIV and tuberculosis. We achieve the most when we work together, using all of our strengths, harnessing all of our collective potential to end HIV and tuberculosis for a healthier world as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.” ...Michel Sisibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS
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This publication outlines public health aspects of alcohol use and harm in WHO South East Asia Region Countries. It summarizes Global Regional and country specific data and also discusses aspects of alcohol control that are important in the context of the Region. The possible future trend of alcohol... use in the Region is also analysed and current and future barriers to effective alcohol control in countries of the Region are discussed.
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