Over the last week, some announcements have been released concerning new tools, publications and meeting materials that may be of value to the TB community including materials from the WGND sponsored “Essentiality of Pyrazinamide” Workshop, an interactive map of clinical trials from PACTR, and a new Collaborative Framework for Care and Control of Tuberculosis and Diabetes from the WHO and The Union.
WGND “Essentiality of Pyrazinamide” Workshop Materials Available!
This year on May 31-June 1, the Stop TB Partnership Working Group on New Drugs sponsored the “Essentiality of Pyrazinamide” Workshop. The meeting brought together some of the leading researchers in the field. It was an opportunity to discuss some of the questions around pyrazinamide, the first-line drug for TB with potent sterilizing activity.
Please visit http://www.newtbdrugs.org/meetings/pza-workshop.php to access agenda, presentations, video, and synopses. We are currently in the process of completing the videos so a few are not yet ready, but should be available the second week of September.
The NIH will sponsor a larger meeting on PZA in Spring 2012. You can find more information at http://www.newtbdrugs.org/meetings/pza-workshop.php.
PACTR launches online interactive map of clinical trials in Africa
The Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) officially launched a Global Information Systems (GIS) mapping component to its database yesterday. The fully interactive map provides a visual display of trial locations, as they are registered, according to the coordinates of the cities listed as recruitment centres. The map is fully searchable.
PACTR could very well be the first trial registry to offer a live, searchable GIS mapping component. Users can isolate disease type, trial titles, intervention type (prevention, treatment, education, diagnosis, and support), country, city, recruitment status and site type (single-centre, multi-centre / multi-nation, multi-centre / single nation). Users can navigate through the map by zooming in to specific sites, or attain a broader picture by viewing the continent. The map has been the product of concerted efforts since the inception of the registry as the AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM) Registry in 2006. . .read more
WHO and the Union launch collaborative framework on TB and diabetes
WHO and the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union) have developed a Collaborative Framework for Care and Control of Tuberculosis and Diabetes, which presents recommendations based on evidence from three systematic reviews and a series of expert consultations. It outlines essential steps for coordinated action in three areas:
- establishment of mechanisms for collaboration between national TB programmes and suitable counterparts responsible for care and control of diabetes;
- improved detection and management of TB in patients with diabetes;
- improved detection and management of diabetes in patients with TB.
The framework comes at a critical time, since diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, and people with diabetes have a 2-3 times higher risk of TB than people without diabetes. In addition diabetes can worsen the clinical course of TB, and TB can worsen glucose control in people with diabetes.
Diabetes is rising precipitously in low- and middle-income countries undergoing rapid economic, social and lifestyle changes. It is also gaining ground in the low-income countries where TB has always thrived. This is a major concern since the increase in diabetes cases could jeopardize progress made in the global fight against TB over the last decade.
WHO and The Union would like to encourage more countries to become involved, and would also like to receive information about plans and outcomes of such initiatives.
For more information contact:
WHO
Stop TB: Knut Lönnroth, lonnrothk@who.int
Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion: Gojka Roglic: roglicg@who.int
The Union
Anthony Harries, adharries@theunion.org