Healthdev.Net TB News

Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

We need new tools to fight TB. With the currently available over-40-yrs old diagnostic tools, just 61% of TB cases get diagnosed globally AND close to 40% of the cases go undetected...

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

World Care Council wrote to Kenya's National TB Programme manager, about the two TB Patients in Kenya being sentenced to 8 months in prison for not taking their tablets as prescribed. World Care Council has sought clarification on this from the National TB Programme Manager in Kenya.

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Posted by Gershom

Today, 10 years after setting the Millennium Development Goals, many developing countries like Zambia are nowhere near to meeting the goals. One of the challenges is that national governments are not fulfilling the Abuja Declaration of 2001 in which African states made the commitments of allocating 15% of their national budget to the health sector.

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

(1.) Tuberculosis (TB) and Poverty: Partners by default; (2.) Fighting TB with community support can transform lives; (3.) Regulatory conference shows the way forward from lessons learnt in the past; (4.) Critical Path to TB Regimen: New hope of life for TB patients; (5.) Why TB matters to women's health?

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

In developing countries TB remains the third leading cause of death among women of reproductive age (15-44 years), disproportionately affecting pregnant women and the poor. This calls for immediate action to address the suffering caused by TB and to eliminate the disease as a leading killer of women

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

The necessity of involving common citizens in the ongoing battle against TB was discussed at the recently concluded Open Forum 4: Critical Path to TB Regimen: New Hope of Life for TB Patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

There is a direct link between TB and poverty. It is indeed a vicious cycle, as one begets the other. The stark reality is that tuberculosis saps the economy of the community, which in turn increases the likelihood of contracting TB.

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

The 4th Open Forum Conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 18th and 19th August to address key issues in developing new drugs for tuberculosis, which kills nearly 2 million people every year and is becoming increasingly resistant to the current drugs. Participants deliberated an innovative drug development model which will reduce the time taken to develop more effective TB drug regimens by almost 75%

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

(1.) Critical Path to TB Regimen: New hope of life for TB patients; (2.) Why TB matters to women's health?; (3.) University Engineering Student Invents Cheap Point-of-Care Fluorescence Microscope; (4.) BBC Health Check: Examining TB in Haiti; (5.) The end of antibiotics?

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

The era of antibiotics is 'coming to a close,' says the August 12th Guardian. With the once 'miracle medicines' now 'beaten into ineffectiveness by the bacteria they were designed to knock out,' we could be entering a 'post-antibiotic apocalypse' in which pneumonia could again become the 'mass-killer' it once was, especially among the old and frail; in which gonorrhea becomes extremely hard to treat; in which tuberculosis is simply 'incurable.' Need a transplant for a kidney or other organ? You'd best forget it, says the Guardian, as organ recipients' immune systems will be unable to fight off infections without antibiotics. And surgery for a burst appendix will again become 'dangerous.

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

Haiti had high rates of tuberculosis before the earthquake there six months ago, but it is not yet clear whether TB incidence has increased since. Dr Kevin Schwartzman, from the Montreal Chest Institute, takes a historical look into TB following other natural disasters and complex emergencies, and discusses whether it is inevitable that TB rates rise after such events.

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

Rice University biomedical engineering student, Andrew Miller, has developed a portable, battery-operated bright field and fluorescence microscope that rivals the performance of reference-standard devices retailing for as much as $40,000! He built it using off-the-shelf parts that cost just $240.

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

CNS writes from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: "The Open Forum 4 on key issues in tuberculosis (TB) drug development is all set to begin in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (18-19 August 2010). This Open Forum 4, will raise and address key issues in TB drug development, with a special focus on regulatory affairs"

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

Celebrated and award-winning CNS Writer Chief Masimba K Biriwasha (South Africa/ Zimbabwe) writes: "TUBERCULOSIS (TB) has a major impact on women's sexual reproductive health and that of their children. For pregnant women living in areas with high TB infection rates, there are increased chances of transmission of TB to a child...

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

(1.) Patient-centered approach is crucial to successfully confront TB-HIV epidemic in European region; (2.) Public Health Institute's Global Health Fellows Program seeks Senior Tuberculosis Policy Advisor; (3.) Stop TB Partnership signs MoU with UNAIDS to improve TB-HIV responses; (4.) TB cough-in/coffin March: TB on IAC agenda as never before; (5.) Can TB patients say "Rights Here, Right Now"?

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

It is so nice to see that TB/HIV has been given due importance, focus and limelight in the recently observed IAC of Vienna. There were several oral sessions and poster presentation in the conference to share research, clinical and programmatic experiences on combined TB/HIV interventions around the world, chiefly from Africa. The conference has given us opportunity to know about the key lessons learned from the TB/HIV collaborative activities in the countries though it is also felt that the experiences of Asia should have been highlighted more

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

A raging issue on the first day of XVIII International AIDS Conference was whether Isoniazid (INH) Preventive Therapy (IPT) be given to all –regardless whether people have TB or not? A full-course of IPT can prevent latent tuberculosis (TB) infection from becoming active TB disease. It is very crucial and often life-saving for people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are co-infected with tuberculosis (TB) as TB continues to be the biggest killer of PLHIV

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

(1.) Stop TB Partnership signs MoU with UNAIDS to improve TB-HIV responses; (2.) TB cough-in/coffin March: TB on IAC agenda as never before; (3.) Prevent TB: IPT works, IPT is safe; (4.) TB-HIV co-infection: Giving ART and treating TB slow HIV progression; (5.) Can TB patients say "Rights Here, Right Now"?

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Posted by Evelyn Harvey (Evelyn)

Antiretroviral drugs should be initiated after just two weeks of TB treatment in patients with HIV and TB, according to a new study. Currently, a gap of up to eight weeks between commencement of TB treatment and initiation of HAART is advised, to reduce the risks of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome and adverse drug interactions. The findings of the CAMELIA were presented at AIDS 2010 on 22 July by Dr Francis Xavier Blanc, Bicetre Hopital, France.

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Posted by Bobby Ramakant (bobby)

In Lesotho, Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) to prevent latent TB infection from becoming active TB disease, is not available for ordinary citizens but only for health workers. Those people who have latent TB infection have a right to protect themselves and access IPT services to prevent latent TB from becoming active TB disease. The Global TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership has clearly stated that: IPT works, IPT is safe, and IPT works with ART or by itself

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