Organiser of the workshop, Thabang Molefi, said: “The aim of the meeting was to contextualise the challenges and the enormity of the TB disease burden in occupational and community settings. Presenters shared practical ways of implementing best practice TB infection prevention and control programmes in provinces, districts and facilities. Where possible, they demonstrated the impact of interventions already implemented nationally or internationally.”

Peta de Jager, CSIR research leader, commented: “The number of TB cases in South Africa is shocking – we have the highest incidence rate for TB infection in the world, with over 70% of TB patients being co-infected with HIV/Aids. What makes matters even worse is that we don’t have enough health infrastructure facilities to cope with the TB epidemic. The layout of most existing facilities is also not aimed at stopping infection-control of drug-resistant TB. ”

The workshop was a joint effort between the CSIR and its partners in this TB infection prevention initiative – the national Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the US Department of Health & Human Services.

Presentations by the CSIR included:

• Lessons learned from the Global Fund TB infrastructure project for multi and extremely drug-resistant (MDR/XDR) TB - by Geoff Abbott
• Ventilation for health-care facilities and households: principles, challenges, measurements and optimisation - by Faatiema Salie.

Similar courses, tailor-made for the target audience, are being presented by the CSIR and some of its partners and peers in other centres in South Africa.