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Child TB workshop looks at lessons learned and implications for future

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A workshop in Cotonou, Benin, recently brought together representatives from the four countries participating in The Union’s TITI study on contact investigation and TB preventive treatment for children under five.

A workshop in Cotonou, Benin, recently brought together representatives from the four countries participating in The Union’s TITI study on contact investigation and tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment for children under five.

The group met to review the preliminary results of the study, share lessons learned from practical experience and to work on national-level plans for improving TB prevention for children in the four countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic and Cameroon.

"This meeting has been essential to understanding the impact and practical implications of the study, and where we go from here. We learned that the country staff found the home visits to be essential – not only as a method to identify all children at potential risk of TB, but also as a means to screen other adult family members for TB at the same time" said Dr Valérie Schwoebel, Programme Manager for Francophone Africa, The Union.

The TITI study targeted children sharing a home with a person on treatment for active TB, screened the children for symptoms and placed them on preventive treatment. The study used a three-month regimen of rifampicin-isoniazid child-friendly formulations for preventive treatment in three of the four countries involved, and the standard six-month isoniazid treatment in the fourth.

Preliminary results of the study were presented at the 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health in The Hague in October.