The Union, in partnership with the World Diabetes Foundation, developed a comprehensive technical resource for frontline health professionals in the management and care of people with both diabetes-mellitus (DM) and TB.
Recommendations in the guide, published in early 2019, draw on evidence from published research, expert opinion and practical experience. It also complements the ‘Collaborative framework for care and control of TB and diabetes’ launched by The Union and WHO in 2011, which served as a guide to establishing a coordinated response to both diseases at the organisational and clinical level. This new resource focuses on health workers in clinical management and care.
Diabetes reduces immune function and increases a person’s risk of developing TB three-fold. The rapidly growing epidemic of diabetes in low- and middle-income countries threatens TB care and prevention efforts and makes treatment for both diseases more complicated and less successful.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
THE HIV SECTION
The HIV Section expanded to include TB-diabetes mellitus, which is becoming increasingly important for TB care and prevention. The HIV section organised a Late-Breaker Session on TB-HIV during the Union World Conference, in The Hague, which included abstracts on TB-diabetes.
THE TB CONTROL IN PRISONS WORKING GROUP
The TB control in prisons working group coordinated a session on TB-HIV in prisons during TB2018, the TB pre-conference to the International AIDS Conference. The group also published the compendium ‘Good Practices in Prevention and Care of Tuberculosis and Drug-Resistant TB in Prisons’, which includes 31 examples of best practices from 15 countries categorised according to the most relevant pillars of the global End TB Strategy, and held two international training sessions at the WHO Collaborating Centre on Prevention and Control of TB in Prisons, in Baku, Azerbaijan.