Health care workers dealing with tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in war-torn Iraq recently participated in a five-day Union course on infection control (IC). Trainings specifically focused on IC are a relatively new endeavor for The Union and reflect its critical importance to the clinical and operational management of TB and MDR-TB.
The 27 participants from Iraq included clinicians, national TB programme (NTP) managers and laboratory staff from all levels of the health care system. The course, which was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Iraq and The Union was held in Istanbul,Turkey, rather than in Iraq, for security reasons.
The curriculum was customised by The Union specifically for them and stressed practical approaches to IC in the kinds of difficult field conditions they currently face.
“Our objective is to for participants to learn how to develop reliable infection control plans that they can implement locally at low cost and in a very short period of time after the course,” says Dr Ignacio Monedero, coordinator of the course for The Union.
After the course participants received online follow-up guidance on implementing their local plans and support for the development of national IC guidelines.
The training offered in English and Arabic was the first ever to be offered by The Union for Iraq. It proved so successful that The Union and UNDP Iraq are planning a course on clinical TB control for the Iraq NTP to be held in Istanbul in February 2015.