PIH training for MDR-TB in Lesotho

On January 24-30, 2011, PIH Lesotho will be holding a course on care delivery for multidrug resistant tuberculosis in Maseru, Lesotho. This course is intended for physicians, residents, fellows, epidemiologists, nurses, and other health care professionals with an interest in MDR- and XDR-TB. 

Course participants will leave with an in-depth understanding of MDR-TB, treatment regimens, and providing top-of-the-line medical care in a geographically challenging region, where much of the population lives in highland villages accessible only by foot or horseback.

Lesotho – a small, mountainous nation of 2 million people located entirely within the borders of South Africa – suffers from the third highest rate of HIV infection in the world, with an adult prevalence of 23.3%, and the fourth highest rate of tuberculosis infection. Over two thirds of all TB patients are co-infected with HIV. 

In response to an outbreak of XDR-TB in neighboring South Africa, Partners In Health Lesotho (PIHL) began working with the Lesotho National TB Program in 2007, supporting the creation of the first community-based MDR-TB treatment program in Africa. This program has since become a model for hospital- and community-based care of MDR/XDR-TB in Africa. 

As a result, clinical teams from throughout Africa (including Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zambia) have sought instruction from Dr. Hind Satti and Dr. Kwonjune (KJ) Justin Seung on MDR-TB prevention and treatment. For the first time, PIHL opens this MDR-TB course to physicians and health care workers from countries outside Africa.

So far, course participants have registered from South Africa, Medecin San Frontieres in Zimbabwe, Harvard Medical School in Boston, and Indus Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.

Find out more about the program and register now.  Only a few seats remain!