Treat TB

From 2‐4 March 2011, TREAT TB held a series of meetings including the initiative’s annual Partners’ Meeting at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in Liverpool, United Kingdom. LSTM is a key partner in the TREAT TB initiative and has been involved in the project since its launch in 2008. The objective of this year’s Partners’ Meeting was to evaluate the progress of the TREAT TB initiative over the last year and plan the next steps for several important projects, including the evaluation of a shortened, standardized regimen for MDR‐TB patients known as the STREAM study. In addition to discussing the upcoming implementation plans for STREAM, The Union and its TREAT TB partners discussed next steps for the Policy Relevant Outcomes from Validating Evidence on Impact (PROVE IT) studies which will assess the costs associated with the roll‐out of the new diagnostic tool Line Probe Assays in Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. TREAT TB partners from the Rio de Janeiro‐based research organization REDE‐TB and the Desmond Tutu TB Centre in Cape Town presented their work on the study during a meeting on 2 March 2011 and during the group discussions of the Partners’ Meeting on 3 March 2011. PROVE IT implementation began in South Africa earlier this month and is expected to begin in Russia and Brazil by May 2011.

Another focal area for the partners meeting was the South Africa USAID Mission‐funded Operational Research Assistance Project (ORAP). Brenda Smuts of the Desmond Tutu TB Centre and Sonja van der Merwe from the Free State Province Health Department gave an overview of ORAP , which has funded 15 research projects determined to be of great importance by the national Department of Health. Ms. van der Merwe described the benefits and challenges associated with such research projects in nonurban provinces of South Africa.

Aside from the country‐based research activities, TREAT TB staff and partners were able to learn more about the project’s modelling activities. Ivor Langley of LSTM and Hsien‐Ho Lin of the National Taiwan University presented their activities to build and link operational and transmission models that would provide valuable guidance on the effectiveness of and challenges associated with the adoption of new diagnostic tools high‐burden, low‐resource settings. Further information is availabe via the Agenda and Meeting Summary.