Meetings archive 2007

TB/HIV in the HIV implementers' meeting

Over 1500 people from around the world who work to put HIV prevention, treatment, care and support programmes into action, met at the HIV Implementers' Meeting, in Kigali, Rwanda from June 16-19. The Secretariat of the TB/HIV Working Group was instrumental in organizing the TB/HIV sessions of the meeting which contained abstract and non-abstract driven sessions. The plenary speech by Dr Chakaya Muhwa of Kenya emphasized the importance of strengthening basic TB control services for optimal HIV and AIDS care and called for TB and HIV programmes to work together. He shared the exemplary experience of Kenya in their nationwide scale-up of collaborative TB/HIV activities. Haiti, Kenya, Uganda and Indonesia also shared their experiences and best practices in providing integrated TB and HIV services. The importance of TB infection control in HIV care settings particularly in the context of XDR-TB and laboratory strengthening to expedite the diagnosis of TB in PLHIV were emphasized.

Read the report written by members of the Core Group.

Kigali also hosted the follow up to the March Accelerating the Implementation of Collaborative TB/HIV Activities meeting in Washington D.C. The meeting in Kigali was organized by OGAC (the U.S Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator) and WHO on behalf of the TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership. Participants shared experiences of nationwide scale-up of collaborative TB/HIV activities. The meeting brought together more than 80 participants from 22 countries. Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia (who attended the March meeting) presented their draft plans for discussion. Round tables identified critical action points for nationwide scale-up of collaborative TB/HIV activities.

HIV/TB sessions at IAS 2007 in Sydney

The TB/HIV Working Group Secretariat of the Stop TB Partnership has organised a satellite symposium in conjunction with the 4th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, treatment and prevention in collaboration with Forum for Collaborative HIV Research in collaboration with Agence nationale de recherches sur le sida (ANRS), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic (CREATE), the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Programme (EDCTP) International AIDS Society, National Institutes of Health and Tibotec. The satellite symposium will be held on Sunday July 22, 2007 at 12:30-14:30 in Hall B. The goals of this satellite symposium are to 1) increase awareness of and interest in, the urgent need to include TB diagnosis, prevention and treatment issues into the HIV clinical research arena and 2) discuss with programs and sponsors opportunities for increased focus on HIV-TB coinfection and examples of supportive and facilitating programs they may offer. The panel discussant in this satellite symposium include Michel Kazatchkine (Executive Director of the Global Fund for AIDS,TB and Malaria), Michel Sidibe (Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS), Debrework Zewdie (Director, Global AIDS Programme, World Bank) and Kevin DeCock (Director of HIV/AIDS Department, WHO). See the agenda and the roadmap of TB/HIV activities in the conference.

Urgent Call For New TB Research

From the International AIDS Society Daily Bulletin report July 23, 2007. Full Bulletin available at: http://www.ias2007.org/admin/images/upload/858.pdf

Sydney, Australia -- Tuberculosis (TB) kills approximately two million people every year, and is the leading cause of death among people with HIV. Each illness builds on the devastation caused by the other, with the most extreme effects seen in the regions least equipped to cope, according to participants in a satellite sponsored by the TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership. Underscoring the urgent need for better diagnosis, Renee Ridzon of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation observed, "It's not a question if people in Africa will get TB but when."

Sunday's satellite, entitled HIV/TB Co-Infection: Meeting the Challenge, was convened to discuss critical gaps in research on the intersection of the two pandemics, made even more urgent by the recent emergence of extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB). Organizers are hopeful that major HIV funders will help fill these gaps, given the deadly implications of TB for people living with HIV. According to Michel Sidibe, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, who was a participant in the meeting, an estimated $2 billion would be needed annually to make a quick and major difference.

An oral abstract session on July 23, (MOAB1,11:00, Bayside Auditorium B) will feature five oral abstract presentations on the topic of HIV/TB co-infection.

The Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation organized a planning meeting to accelerate the implementation of collaborative HIV/TB in selected sub-Saharan African countries, which carries the brunt of the burden of the TB and HIV dual epidemic. The meeting was held on March 6-7, 2007 in Washington DC, USA. The countries included were Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Zambia. Participants at the meeting included National TB and HIV/AIDS Control Programme managers, heads of national TB and HIV laboratories, HIV/TB focal points from country PEPFAR teams and representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Fund against AIDS, TB and Malaria, OGAC, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), WHO and selected members of the Core Group of the TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership. The meeting was open by Ambassador Mark Dybul who reiterated the importance of collaborative TB/HIV activities and announced the availability of an additional $50 million supplemental funding for all PEPFAR focus countries for HIV/TB in 2007. Click here for the meeting report

TB/HIV meeting at 14th conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections

Sunday 25 February 2007, Los Angeles, USA

Summary
The Global TB/HIV Working Group of the Stop TB Partnership in collaboration with the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS TB Epidemic (CREATE) has organized a TB/HIV meeting in conjunction with the 14th Conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections in Los Angeles, USA. About 40 leading researchers in the field attended the meeting and was co-chaired by Dr D. Havlir, chairperson of the Global TB/HIV Working Group and Dr S. Lehrman Director, Therapeutics Research Program, Division of AIDS, NIH, USA. The main objective of this meeting was to familiarise selected participants of the Conference with the functions of the Global TB/HIV Working Group (WG) of the Stop TB Partnership and to share and discuss key TB/HIV research issues and ongoing efforts. The meeting raised the awareness about the Global TB/HIV WG and a one pager brief about the WG was distributed. Presentations were done and discussions conducted about the ongoing research efforts and priorities around key areas (see presentations below). The importance of TB prevention in people living with HIV has been emphasized and research priorities including screening algorithms to rule out TB and best tools to diagnose latent TB were discussed. The possibility of developing a single prophylaxis tablet for people living with HIV for the commonest opportunistic illnesses, including TB was raised during the discussion. The research priorities and ongoing efforts about ART for TB patients were presented. However, it was appalling to learn that most of the reported studies that intended to study ART delivery among TB patients were either stopped or crinkling, which was worrisome particularly in the face of the multiple unanswered questions of ART delivery in TB patients. The case definition of Immune reconsistition syndrome (IRIS) in TB patients, which was the outcome of an earlier meeting that was held in Uganda, Kampala has been presented. The following major and minor criteria were presented. Major criteria include: (1)New/enlarging lymph nodes, cold abscesses or other focal tissue involvement; (2) New/worsening radiological features of TB; (3)Breakthrough TB meningitis or new/enlarging focal CNS lesion; (4)New or Worsening serositis. Minor criteria include: (1)Constitutional symptoms- e.g., fever, night sweats;(2) Respiratory symptoms - e.g., cough, dyspnea, stridor;(3) Abdominal pain and/or hepatomegaly;(4) Resolution of clinical and/or radiological findings without change in TB treatment. A patient is classified as TB IRIS if has one major or 2 minor criteria. The urgent research priorities to accelerate the implementation of the new global recommendations to expedite the diagnosis and management of TB in HIV prevalent and resource constrained settings and the research priority implications of extensively resistant TB(XDR TB) were presented. There was high level of interest from the participants on all topics and it was agreed that a follow-up meeting in conjunction with the upcoming IAS 2007 Conference in Sydney will be useful. It was suggested that the WG should find a systematic way of registering and following up ongoing clinical trials of ART in TB patients in a more updated way through constant and close consultation with partners such as the NIH. It needs to develop a targeted research advocacy agenda and monitor the implementation of the research priority questions identified in 2005.

Agenda and Presentations

13:00-13:05: Welcome and overview of the Global TB/HIV Working Group ( Diane Havlir, UCSF, USA and Chair of the WG)
13:05-13:15: TB prevention for HIV patients: priorities and ongoing research efforts (Richard Chaisson, John Hopkins, USA)
13:20-13:30 Discussion
13:30-13:40 HIV treatment for TB patients: priorities and ongoing research efforts (Fabio Scano, WHO, Switzerland)
13:40-13:50 IRIS-TB: priorities and updates from a recent international meeting (Graeme Meintjes, South Africa)
13:50-14:10 Discussion
14:10-14:20 Smear negative TB and HIV: urgent research priorities to inform a rolling global policy (Haileyesus Getahun, WHO, Switzerland)
14:20-14:30 Extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB and HIV: urgent research priorities (Gerald Friedland, Yale University, USA)
14:30-14:50 Discussion
14:50-15:00 Wrap up and next steps