The Union holds second TB training in Manila
“Fantastic!”
This was how Dr. Christina Drummond from Médecins sans Frontières described the Second Comprehensive Course on Clinical Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, which was held at TDF’s Philippine Institute of Tuberculosis, September 21-25.
Eighteen participants from nine countries attended the yearly training conducted by the International Union Against TB and Lung Diseases (IUATLD, or The Union). This was the second time that The Union partnered with TDF to hold an international technical course on drug-resistant TB in Manila.
For TDF, this activity was in line with its being recently launched as the Regional Model Tuberculosis Center in the Western Pacific, which is funded by USAID and with technical support from the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region (WHO/WPR) office.
This year’s training covered topics such as approaches to diagnosis of drug-resistant TB, framework for effective MDR-TB control, rational use of first- and second-line drugs for treatment, and management of MDR-TB in special situations.
Dr. Jose Caminero Luna from Spain and Dr. Chen-Yuan Chiang served as the main instructors during the five-day course. Meanwhile, TDF officers Dr. Thelma Tupasi and Dr. Mamel Quelapio provided overviews of the Philippine experience on MDR-TB management.
“We are lucky to have heard the experiences of experts who have worked many years in TB,” said Dr. Ndapewa Hamumine, a medical officer from the Ministry of Health and Social Services in Namibia.
Dr. Vishnu Prasad Poudyal from Nepal said that the key message of the course was “how we can organize our own programs to deal with MDR-TB in our respective countries.”
All participants agreed that the course was useful in helping them rethink about the issues, models, and approaches their own countries have adopted towards managing and controlling drug-resistant TB.
The five-day training was capped by field visits to two TB treatment centers of TDF—Bahay ng KASAKA in Quezon City and the PMDT Clinic at the Makati Medical Center.
Posted by admin on September 30th, 2009 under News & Events