Agir plus vite avec les populations locales

 Le Burkina Faso a commémoré le dimanche 28 mars dernier, la journée mondiale de lutte contre la tuberculose (JMT) à Koudougou. La cérémonie officielle a connu la participation de 3 ministres à savoir celui de la santé, des sports ainsi que celui du travail et de la sécurité sociale. Plusieurs représentants d’organisations internationales et inter africaines ont suivi avec intérêt la cérémonie aux côtés d’une population fortement mobilisée.

Environ 850 personnes ont pris part à la cérémonie commémorative de la JMT à Koudougou. Cette localité située à 100kms de la capitale Ouagadougou a été choisie en raison de son faible taux de détection et de guérison de la tuberculose. En 2009, sur les 1222 nouveaux cas TPM+ attendus, 187 ont été détectés avec un taux de succès de 77%. La célébration de la JMT dans cette zone a été une occasion de sensibiliser les populations locales, d’encourager les malades à poursuivre leur traitement et d’encourager les agents de santé afin qu’ils s’investissent mieux dans leur travail.

La cérémonie officielle a démarré par une course cycliste dénommée un coup de pédale contre la tuberculose. 54 coureurs ont parcouru 124kms pour montrer leur engagement en faveur de la lutte contre la tuberculose. Dans toutes les localités traversées par la course cycliste, des messages sur la tuberculose ont été diffusés. Cela constitue une innovation majeure dans les activités de cette année, a rappelé Seydou Bouda, ministre de la Santé tout en insistant sur les efforts communs à fournir pour agir plus vite contre la tuberculose. La  représentante de l’Organisation de la Santé, Djamila Cabral estime que l’effort doit être fournit non seulement par les communautés mais également par les chercheurs et les partenaires techniques et financiers. A cinq années de la date butoir pour l’atteinte des objectifs du millénaire pour le développement, il est urgent d’intensifier les recherches, de rendre plus exactes les méthodes de diagnostic de la tuberculose et de garantir l’accès au traitement pour les malades.

Au cours de la cérémonie de Koudougou, les meilleurs acteurs de 2009 en matière de lutte contre la tuberculose ont été récompensés. Il s’agit de 3 districts sanitaires (Sig noghin, Batié et Dafra) et de l’association Yaam Wekré pour leurs efforts dans la détection et la prise en charge des malades tuberculeux.

Le thème de la journée mondiale tuberculose est bien mis en exergue au Burkina Faso. L’innovation consiste à :

- Amener les agents de santé à s’investir plus dans leur travail pour la détection et le traitement plus rapide des malades.

- Amener les agents de santé à être plus vigilants aux cas contacts. Dans l’entourage d’un malade tuberculeux, il s’agit de rechercher d’autres cas de tuberculose et de sensibiliser la famille pour un soutien au malade pendant tout son traitement.

- Utiliser des techniques de diagnostic plus performantes avec les microscopes à fluorescence

- Réaliser la culture du bacille en milieu solide et liquide

- Sensibiliser et rechercher des cas de tuberculose au sein des populations à risque vivant dans les quartiers périphériques ou travaillant sur des sites d’orpaillage, de granit, les PVVIH, les populations carcérales.

- Amener les anciens malades de tuberculose à mieux s’investir dans les activités de sensibilisation.

Activités réalisées dans le cadre de la JMT au Burkina Faso

Au niveau des mass médias :

- réalisation d’une annonce radio, télé et presse écrite

- réalisation de 16 émissions radio et télé

- diffusion de bandes défilantes de message au bas de l’écran télé

Au niveau des prisons

Réalisation d’une journée d’informations sur la tuberculose dans la prison centrale de Ouagadougou avec la participation de plus de 100 prisonniers

Au niveau des régions

- Réalisation d’une tournée de théâtre forum dans les quartiers périphériques

- Réalisation d’une course cycliste « un coup de pédale contre la tuberculose »

- Célébration officielle de la JMT présidée par le ministre de la Santé

Les supports de sensibilisation réalisés

- 30 banderoles

- 1000 affiches

- 1000 pochettes

- 1000 brochures

- 1000 dépliants

- 1600 T shirts

World TB Day Brazil, Photos and video demonstration Public Act Memory Victims of Tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro BrazilBrazil – Photos and video demonstration Public Act Memory Victim of  Tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro Brazil

On the 24^th March 2010 Target Tuberculosis, a UK-based INGO, in partnership with The UK Coalition to Stop TB, held a joint World TB Day event in Westminster, central London.

Target Tuberculosis celebrated World TB Day with the launch of its photographic exhibition ‘Hope – Stories from India’ commissioned to the professional photographer David Brunetti. The photographs highlight the impact of the TB pandemic on marginalised communities in and around Dehradun, Uttarakhand State, North East India. These photographs, also featured on the front page of the Financial Times’ World TB Day special supplement, will be on show across the country later this year.

The event also formally launched the UK Coalition to Stop TB’s new campaign ‘TB: A Disease of the Past? Action Now!’ urging the UK Government  to take a lead on the international response to stop TB, by making TB a priority on the UK’s domestic and global health agendas. The UK Coalition to Stop TB is a Stop TB National Partnership, with over 30 organisational members of which Target Tuberculosis is an active member of.

The World TB Day event was attended by Members of Parliament from the three major political parties in the UK, together with representatives from the Department for International Development (DfID) and other major UK donors who support TB control. Lucy Chesire, TB patient activist from Kenya, gave an impassioned keynote speech about her personal experiences of TB, and the realities of TB-HIV co-infection.

Earlier in the day Kibble Ngalauka, Executive Director of the Sue Ryder Foundation in Malawi (SRFIM) – a grassroots organisation implementing community-based TB control initiatives, and Target Tuberculosis’s country partner in Malawi since 2005 – delivered the list of ‘TB Election Asks’ associated with the UK Coalition to Stop TB’s campaign to 10 Downing Street. The leaders of all three main political parties in the UK also gave statements of support for global TB control initiatives on 24^th March.

Through the delivery of the ‘TB Election Asks’ to 10 Downing Street and the photographic exhibition, we were able to effectively highlight to a wide audience the importance of raising awareness of the key issues surrounding tuberculosis and HIV-TB co-infections – the effect they have on the individual and society in terms of stigma and accessibility to appropriate care and treatment, around the world.

On March 24, 2010, the World TB Day was commemorated in the most transited border city in the world: Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

A series of events was produced by the  Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Diabetes programs from the Heath Jurisdiction No. II  in coordination  with Solucion TB, an initiative of  Project Concern International.

In the events, persons affected by tuberculosis, staff,  and interns from the local  rehabilitation center participated by distributing educational materials and giving community talks.

For more information please contact:

Dr. Paris Cerecer (tuberculosismx@hotmail.com)

Public Health Research Institute

New Jersey Medical School

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

March 23-24, 2010

As part of the effort to recognize and increase the impact of World TB Day in the greater mid-Atlantic area, the Public Health Research Institute, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, hosted a symposium to offer a geographically-focused opportunity for collaboration and intellectual exchange between eminent tuberculosis researchers. This symposium builds on a successful symposium held by the Trudeau Institute for World TB Day in 2009 in upstate New York for researchers that focused on the human host response to tuberculosis.  The event was made possible by support from the Potts Memorial Foundation.

The objective of the conference was to develop and enhance the interaction of local scientists who work on tuberculosis.  The format of the conference provided a high level of interaction between scientists to promote information exchange across disciplines as well as promote collaboration and appreciation for the variety of work conducted in the mid-Atlantic area.  The agenda of the conference was aimed to bring together researchers working on both pathogen biology and human immune response in tuberculosis, including topics such as mechanisms of virulence, antibiotic resistance acquisition, survival strategies in response to stress.  This mix created the opportunity for local scientists working on both the human and bacterial side of the disease to come together in order to stimulate collaboration and new directions for synergistic work.

The two-day program included short presentations from twenty-six researchers with additional time for discussion after each talk, a keynote lecture, and two panel discussions.  The symposium was attended by over 45 researchers and received very positive feedback from participants, many of which reported making new connections with other participants.

The program of the event follows:

International Center for Public Health

Auditorium, First Floor

225 Warren St., Newark, NJ

Tuesday March 23, 2010

1:30 pm                      Welcome

1:45 – 2:45 pm         Pathogen’s biology

David Alland: Examining the dogma of multidrug resistance

Kyu Rhee: Mycobacterial metabolism: the known knowns, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns

Barry Kreiswirth: Unraveling the microevolution of an epidemic clone

3:00 –4:20 pm The host response

Yuri Bushkin: A new mouse model probing CTL responses to candidate anti-tuberculosis vaccines

Jennifer Phillips: Functional Genomics of the Host: Defining Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Infection

Richard Pine: Regulatory Genomics of Macrophage Response to M. tuberculosis and Interferon gamma

Steve Porcelli: Evasion of protective T cell responses by virulent mycobacteria

4:35 – 5.35 pm          Pathogen’s biology

Karl Drlica: Anaerobic shock as a potential tuberculosis therapy

Michael Glickman: DNA repair in Mycobacteria

Luis Quadri: Mycobacterial Polyketide Virulence Factors: Biosynthesis and Inhibition

5:45 pm                       Guest Lecture by Oleg Igoshin, Rice University

Systems Biology Modeling of Bacterial Stress Response: Understanding the Interplay of Transcriptional Feedbacks with Post-Translational Kinetics

Wednesday March 24, 2010

9.00-10:20 am         Pathogen’s biology

Sabine Ehrt: Carbon Metabolism in M. tuberculosis during Infection

Marila Gennaro: Regulatory networks of M. tuberculosis

Kathleen McDonough: New paths for cAMP signaling in M. tuberculosis

Harvey Rubin: The Role of the Stringent Response in MTb Pathogenesis

10:35-11:55 am        The host response

Egidio Torrado: IFN-gamma-dependent activation of macrophages during experimental infections by Mycobacterium ulcerans is impaired by the toxin mycolactone

Joanne Flynn: Latent TB. Imaging the spectrum

Padmini Salgame: The impact of helminthic infection on pulmonary anti-tuberculosis defense

Gary Winslow: Terminal Differentiation of CD4 T cells during Mtb infection

1:30-2:50 pm            Pathogen’s biology

John Chan: M. tuberculosis components that regulate macrophage TNF production

Keith Derbyshire: Insights into the ESX-1 Secretory Apparatus

Graham Hatfull: The Ins and Outs of Mycobacteriophages

Dirk Schnappinger: Gene silencing strategies for mycobacteria

3:00-3:30 pm           Panel Discussion: Drug Development

Convener: Gerry Waters

Participant: Joanne Flynn, Dirk Schnappinger

3:45-4:15 pm            Panel Discussion: Drug Resistance

Convener: Karl Drlica

Participants: David Alland, Barry Kreiswirth

4:30-5:30 pm            Future of Tuberculosis Research at UMDNJ

Roberto Colangeli

Xilin Zhao

Lanbo Shi

Marcela Rodriguez

actbistas@yahoo.com

La Doctora de León es una pediatra mexicana que ha dedicado su vida a curar personas,  principalmente a los más pequeños y vulnerables de una   sociedad;  los niños.  Nueve meses atrás comenzó con una tos que sus colegas la atribuyeron a una alergia. Su estado general de salud se fue agravando, perdiendo peso cada día a pesar de que se alimentaba bien. Al verse en mal estado, decidió hacerse los estudios de baciloscopias, cuyos resultados fueron positivos.

Comenzó tratamiento antituberculosis pero sus pruebas de esputo seguían positivas, y un paulatino deterioro de su estado general. Por fin, después de seis meses de tratamiento, le hicieron un estudio de  susceptibilidades a las drogas de primera línea, dando como resultado tuberculosis multidrogo resistente (TB-MDR).

El 22 de marzo pasado, la doctora de  León fue trasladada a un hospital de especialidades de la ciudad de México, con hemoptisis, peso de 45 kilos y una radiografía que muestran cavernas de hasta 10 mm.

En este Día Mundial Contra la Tuberculosis, la doctora de León podría estar curando pacientes afectados por la tuberculosis o escuchando los discursos de las autoridades de salud por la conmemoración. Sin embargo, se encuentra hospitalizada, en aislamiento y esperando que su estatus ahora no sea de tuberculosis extremadamente drogoresistente (TB-XDR).

La doctora de León quiere seguir luchando no solo para seguir con su misión de vida, sino para ver crecer a sus dos pequeños hijos de  tres y cuatro años.

On the move against Tuberculosis was the topic given to the students.

The young writers received honours, cash award and Certificate of Appreciation at the hands of Prof. (Dr.) Behera, Director L.R.S. Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, Govt. of India – Mr. Bharath Lal Meena, Commissioner of BBMP – Dr. Prahalad Kumar, Director, National Institute of Tuberculosis – Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Karnataka and Dr. Vijayakumar Biradar, BBMP District TB Officer.

IDF young social ambassador Nishchith (Std.6) from Kendriya Vidyalaya, MEG & Centre, Bangalore who added symphony to the whole event by moving his fingers on the musical keyboard was also honoured at the function.

IDF social ambassador Ms.Vimala Hiremath assisted Dr. S. Franklin, Manager, Indian Development Foundation for the overall success of the social event.

In Kannada essay writing, Salman Khan (Std. 9) from Sri Vinayaka Vidya Kendra, Byatarayanapura, Bangalore bagged the first prize while Aishwarya Y. Shenoy (Std.8) from Bangalore Education Society, Malleshwaram, Bangalore and M. Rakshitha (Std.8) from National High School, Basavanagudi, Bangalore bagged the second and third prize respectively.

In English essay writing, D. Mary Diana (Std.8) from Our Lady of Bon Secours Girls High School, Bangalore bagged the first prize while Sahana M.S. (Std. 9) from Sri Vinayaka Vidya Kendra, Byatarayanapura, Bangalore and R. Swetha (Std. 9) from Our Bon Secours Girls High School, Bangalore bagged second and third prize respectively.

IDF Student Social Ambassador MasterNishchith presented with Award and Certificate for best support in TB Programs during the World TB Day 2010. Dr. Vijayakumar S. Biradar, BBMP DTO

Top Ranking students in the TB Essay contest join for a group photograph at the venue of World TB Day, Ms. Vimala Hiremath, IDF Social Ambassador is seen along with the students

This year, all the association members named the award after the MDR TB survivor Mr. Jersy Cesar Peña Espinoza. He has been receiving long and painful TB treatment for four years. He is now suffering from treatment side effects like hearing loss, chronic gastritis and severe depression. He survives by selling plastic garbage bags at the local market.

For more information please contact:

Segundo Chamorro (acipsavi@hotmail.com)

Submitted by: Alberto Colorado (actbistas@yahoo.com)

Wider participation and innovation marked the World TB Day, organized at the Bangalore Corporation Office on 24

 Around 25 government staff, involved in RNTCP at various levels; such as, MOTC (Medical Officer TB Control), TB-HV (TB Health Visitor), STLS (Senior TB Lab Supervisor), LT (Lab Technician), STS (Senior Treatment Supervisor), from Bangalore Urban District, Bangalore Urban District and other districts, were honoured along with representatives of leading NGOs in appreciation of their service.

Best three students in Kannada as well as English Essay contests, organized by Indian Development Foundation, were honoured with cash prizes and certificates. Master Salman Khan, student of Sri Vinayaka Vidyakendra, Bangalore and Miss Mary Diana, student of Our Lady of Bon Secours Girls High School, won first prizes in Kannada and English Essays respectively. World Vision India sponsored TB awareness CD, “Nirashe Beda Nirikshe Ide” (Do not give up. There is Hope) was released during the function. Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike brought out a Souvenir, containing information on TB scenario and reports on the TB work undertaken by Government and Non-Government Organizations. Another useful book by name “Nanu Kshayavannu Thadegattuthene” (“I am Stopping TB”) by National Rural Health Mission was also released during the function. A flow chart “HIV-TB for Following DOTS” with useful information on HIV & TB was also released by a group of NGOs, including Engendered Health for Better Life, Samastha, Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, USAID India and Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society.

Dr. Prahalad Kumar, Director, National Institute of Tuberculosis, Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Karnataka and Dr. Biradar, BBMP District TB Officer also spoke on the occasion. Dr. Sumedha R. Desai, Director of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Karnataka and Dr. Shashidhar Buggi, Secretary, Karnataka State TB Association and several other dignitaries participated in the function. Dr. Suryakanth, Deputy Director, State TB Office welcomed and Dr. Bakthavachalam, Deputy Director, State TB Office, proposed vote of thanks.

Eleven year old student Social Ambassador of Indian Development Foundation, Master Nishchith played background music and sang patriotic songs to keep up the tempo. Free literature on TB was distributed by World Vision India, Sandeep Seva Nilaya and Indian Development Foundation.

Earlier, on 22^nd of March Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike had organized a rally to spread TB awareness. The rally was flagged off from the premises of the Corporation Office by Mr. Bharath Lal Meena, The Commissioner of BBMP. Around five hundred people consisting of health personnel, students and representatives of NGOs took part with vigour and enthusiasm. The rally ended at Puttanna Chetty Town Hall, where young doctors from Ambedkar Medical College performed a street play, spreading awareness on various aspects of TB control. All the participants observed a candle lights vigil to express their resolve to protect precious lives from TB. Dr. Biradar, BBMP District TB Officer proposed vote of thanks.

Press Release issued by
Dr. S. Franklin & Dr. Narayan B. Iyer
Indian Development Foundation