Kohima: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in collaboration with the Nagaland Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) and the Department of Health and Family Welfare (DoH&FW) organized a daylong workshop on Tuberculosis (TB) in Kohima on May 6. District Tuberculosis Officers from the 11 districts of the state along with the Medical Officers from the state TB Hospitals and staff from the central RNTCP office in Kohima shared special cases and their respective experiences relating to TB.
State Tuberculosis Officer, Dr. KT Lotha chaired the programme. He gave a welcome speech and followed by words on the relevance of the day from Beatrice Barbot, MSF Project Coordinator. MSF HIV and TB Country Referent, Dr. Homa Mansoor, who conducted parts of the training, said, “TB is a medical as well as a social disease. It is because of this that the treatment of TB demands a holistic approach than limiting it to one point interactions between the doctors and patients only.” He stated that it was highly encouraging to see such attentive and receptive audience in the medical teams.
The workshop threw light on several subjects including signs & symptoms, diagnosis and classification of Drug Resistant TB, infection control, adverse reaction and adherence with case presentation, experience sharing, exercises and much more.
Dr. Apichetla, Assistant Program Officer commented ”It was recapitulating our knowledge on TB and particularly DR TB, with focus on the clinical aspects and especially the side effects, which is very beneficial for treating our patients.”
A press note informed that MSF, in partnership with the Department of Health and Family Welfare has been supporting Mon District Hospital since 2010. An initial three years Memorandum of Understanding was signed in July 2010 and an extension for one year was agreed this year, bringing the collaboration between MSF and the DoH&FW to an end in July 2014. For this reason, MSF believes it is essential to share the experience that has been acquired during the past 4 years of managing TB in Mon but also worldwide.
