On March 29, 2023, the first WARN/CARN-TB webinar of the year was held online. Attended by some 40 participants from the region’s National TB Programs and partner organizations, the meeting provided an opportunity to review a number of key issues. These included :
WHO/GTB publishes new recommendations for the treatment of MDR-TB
WHO/GTB and WHO/TDR have developed algorithms to aid therapeutic decision-making for childhood pulmonary TB. A process for external validation of the algorithms is currently being designed, and will take the form of a joint operations research study to be conducted in the region. The objectives of the study are to:
- Measure the performance of the algorithms against a consensus definition of pediatric intrathoracic TB;
- Measure the feasibility of using the algorithms;
- Measure the acceptability of using the algorithms by healthcare workers;
- Estimate the impact of using these algorithms on TB detection in adults.
The WARN/CARN-TB working group set up a few months ago to develop a generic protocol to enable countries in the region to study the risk factors associated with death in TB and TB/HIV patients, has produced a series of documents which will shortly be made available to countries wishing to conduct such studies. These documents are :
- A guide to help users understand how best to use the documents produced;
- 04 specific generic protocols, adaptable by country, in order to set up a retrospective or prospective study, within the TB patient population or the TB-HIV patient population;
- Consent forms and questionnaires for data collection.
These documents, initially produced in French, will be translated into English and Portuguese.
L’INITIATIVE is organizing a TB MASTERCLASS for young researchers from French-speaking African countries. The MASTERCLASS will consist of a 6-day training course in Cameroon, supervised by experts in the field. Registrations were launched in April 2023, and the training will take place in November 2023. To register and stay informed about this training, click here https://expertise-france.formalto.app/iuNdk9c8xp.
