FIT Latent TB Infection Conference in Hanoi

Posted on: January 30, 2018

Pursuit of the targets set by the WHO’s End TB Strategy in 2015 has led to an increase in interest in searching, testing and detecting all forms and cases of TB, treating them timely and properly, and preventing infected people from developing active TB.

On 21-22 November 2017, National Tuberculosis Program in partnership with Friends for International TB Relief (FIT) convened a workshop in Hanoi on the management of TB infection in Viet Nam. The workshop was sponsored by the EU through the IMPACT TB project and Qiagen, and brought together TB experts, public health practitioners, community representatives and technicians to discuss experience in managing TB infection worldwide and in Viet Nam.

On the first day of the workshop, participants included leaders from the NTP, provincial departments of health and provincial lung hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Quang Nam province (representing Hoi An), as well as important civil society stakeholders. Presentations on Viet Nam latent TB infection (LTBI) management strategies, highlighting both the global and Viet Nam-specific experience, and LTBI management under the scope of Zero TB Viet Nam and IMPACT TB. New technologies such as QuantiFERON (QFT) Gold Plus were introduced, and evidence on the new WHO-recommended 3HP regimen was presented and discussed.

On the second day of the workshop, participants included implementers from the three provinces. Techniques to screen and test for LTBI were presented, including the Tuberculin Skin Test and QuantiFERON Gold Plus. Experiences in implementing programs related to LTBI were also shared among participants.

The workshop facilitated discussion of strategies for the scaling up of LTBI screening, testing and treatment in Vietnam. See below for the workshop report.

LTBI workshop report