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Introduction of Participants and Pre-test
Before start of the session, the participants were
provided with a questionnaire, designed to obtain the participants’
background, including their level of education and experience in laboratory
practice, and to elicit their knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP).
A representative from each country made a brief
presentation explaining the tuberculosis situation of their respective
countries/regions and also the type of laboratory methods practiced. A few
among them also presented available data on drug resistance.
Tuberculosis Incidence in South-East
Asia
TB has been identified as a major killer disease accounting
for more than 1 500 deaths daily in SEAR. With about 5% of global land area
and 25 percent population, SEAR accounts for 42% of the global tuberculosis
burden and one-third of global TB deaths Further, the contribution of HIV
epidemic to this threat and increase in the prevalence of MDR-TB with a poor
cure and higher mortality rate is a significant threat to TB control programmes. Although SEAR has made some pioneering
contribution towards TB control such as methodology for conducting national
sample survey; efficacy and feasibility of case-detection by sputum
microscopy; successful outcome of home-based treatment; efficacy of
intermittent chemotherapy and discovery of the principles of DOTS. Despite
these contributions, there is continuous burden of TB in SEAR due to lack of
political will and poor allocation of funds, inadequate and irregular supply
of anti-TB drugs, poor quality of drugs, and lack of supervision. Since the
control of TB by DOTS has proved effective in a big way, the importance of
strengthening the key diagnostic methods such as sputum microscopy and other
bacteriological diagnostic methods including determination of drug resistance
profile was stressed. Since the level of initial drug resistance serves as an
epidemiological marker of bacterial transmission in the community, it is
important to follow internationally accepted methodology for setting up drug
susceptibility testing including quality assurance to avoid wide variation in
drug resistance as seen at present in Member Countries.
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