Eyes and ears

New technologies vital to TB fight: Are programmes ready to adopt them?

Henry Neondo, Kenya

An article from the HDN Key Correspondent Team

38th Union World Conference on Lung Health of the International
Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union)
Cape Town

12 November 2007

[ Everything from failing smear microscopy techniques to new high-tech innovations are being discussed by experts attending the 38th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town as they attempt to tackle the many obstacles facing the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
Dr Saidi Egwaga, the head of Tanzania’s TB programme, told delegates at the conference that previously trusted techniques, such as smear microscopy, were now recording sensitivity failure rates of up to 50 percent.
The failure of the drugs that are widely used in Africa and other developing regions, has led to the development of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB and conference delegates have focused heavily on discussions over the way to tackle this crisis.
"New means of ensuring that new technologies reach people through re-tooling" the process of preparing health systems at country and global levels for the uptake of new TB tools "are urgently needed," Dr Egwaga said.
According to the Stop TB Partnership, today’s first-line anti-TB medicines are more than 40-years-old and must be taken for between six and nine months. Erratic or inconsistent treatment generates drug resistance.

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