Erle Frayne Argonza
From Lima beans to Lima community-based XDR-TB treatment, Lima got it! The exciting news about lessons that we can cull from Lima’s health teachings is that the components of the community-based approach are comprehensive and not just “let me inoculate you Patient so you won’t be vector to your household members and neighbors” sort of dinosaur treatment.
Below is the news about the special TB treatment that Lima shares to us all.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
We can learn from XDR-TB treatment in Lima
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
11 August 2008 | EN | ES
A nurse prepares TB drugs in Peru
World Lung Foundation
A new report from Lima, Peru, offers hope for tackling extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in the developing world, says Mario C. Raviglione in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The report shows that with “aggressive and appropriate” management, XDR-TB can be cured in most cases.
Raviglione highlights some of the factors that may have contributed to Peru’s success in treating the disease. All patients were given systematic drug-susceptibility tests and were treated with powerful second-line drugs, including a fluoroquinolone and an injectable drug. Where necessary, treatment regimens were reinforced with known effective drugs.
Strict community-based supervision was enforced, comprising psychological support, nutritional support and financial incentives. Additionally, intense bacteriological and clinical monitoring allowed for readjustments where necessary.
Raviglione believes that applying such an approach on a more global scale would help minimise, and effectively manage, drug resistance.
“In 2008, scaling up is indeed the major challenge faced by most complex health interventions worldwide … Effectiveness of a complex intervention depends on coordinated work among all forces.”
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