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Latin american initiatives


Project Description

  • The World Health Organization reported that there were 22,473 new cases of active tuberculosis (TB) disease in Mexico in 2006, which reflects a case rate of 21 per 100,000 population. Comparatively, in the same year the United States reported 13,779 TB cases with a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 population. The most important risk factor for TB in Mexico appears to be birth in a country with a relatively high incidence of TB.
  • The U.S.-Mexico Border is approximately 2000 miles long and includes four U.S. states (Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas) and six Mexican states (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas.) There are approximately 1 million border crossings daily. Mexico is listed as the most common country of birth among foreign-born persons with TB in the United States. Mexican-born TB cases comprise 25% of all foreign-born TB cases in the United States. In addition, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2000) found a higher prevalence of latent TB infection (LTBI) in Mexican Americans (9.4%) compared with U.S.-born Americans (4.2%) (total estimated number of persons with LTBI 11,213,000). Thus, in order to effectively address TB control in the United States it is also important to address TB control in Mexico.
  • Transmission of TB is a recognized risk to patients and health care workers (HCWs) in outpatient and inpatient settings. Therefore, infection control (IC) is an important strategy for effective TB prevention and control world-wide. This project seeks to serve as a pilot project to expand and augment existing IC practices in outpatient and inpatient settings in the following three Mexican states: Chihuahua, Guanajuato, and Chaipas.

Project Purpose

  • To improve IC practices at the pilot health care facilities located in the identified sites in Mexico to prevent the nosocomial and community transmission of TB. This will be done through:
    • Conducting rapid, on site needs assessments
    • Partnership with local Mexican TB Associations to deliver IC training workshops
    • Training of health care facility staff on the fundamentals of TB IC
    • Training and technical assistance for developing and implementing IC plans for health care facilities

  Where in Mexico

  • Chiapas
  • Guanajuato
  • Chihuahua

Partners

  • CNTC   
    • The Francis J. Curry National TB Center (CNTC) is part of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and is an active partner in this project. CNTC is located in San Francisco, CA and regularly works with clinicians who see patients from Mexico as well as clinicians currently working in Mexico, particularly at the CA/Mexico border. CNTC has worked in Mexico as part of the International Standards for TB Care (ISTC), also in partnership with SNTC. CNTC also has a high level of IC expertise having recently published a comprehensive product: Tuberculosis Infection Control: A Practical Manual for Preventing TB. In December 2009, CNTC will release an online presentation on infection control focused on low-resource settings. CNTCs bi-lingual Program Manager, Kelly Smith, has experience working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and currently designs, manages, and evaluates trainings and educational products at CNTC. She also works on a variety of CNTCs international projects.

  • SNTC   
    • The SNTC is uniquely qualified to conduct this pilot project. With Puerto Rico in the SNTCs region, the capacity to provide both medical consultation and training in Spanish has been developed by including bi-lingual medical and training staff members on the team. These individuals will form the nucleus of the project staff working on this pilot. The SNTCs Principal Investigator, Dr. Michael Lauzardo, is a pulmonologist with extensive experience with the public health and medical aspects of tuberculosis. The project coordinator for this pilot project, Paula Hamsho-Diaz, was trained as a physician in Mexico and obtained a degree in Public Health from the University of Florida. The SNTCs bi-lingual Training Specialist, Kristina Ottenwess, has experience conducting trainings in Spanish as well as translating and back-translating educational materials. All trainings will be conducted in Spanish and, translation is required, these three team members will provide the translation for the English-speaking faculty recruited to collaborate on this project.

  • CDC
    • CDC will collaborate with project partners, monitor the scope of services provided and provide IC expertise.

  • USAID-Mexico

  • NTP-Mexico

Other Course Faculty

  • Dr. Martin Yagui Moscoso
  • Dr. Kevin Fennelly
  • Arq. Isabel Ochoa

Contact us

  • SNTC
    • sntc@medicine.ufl.edu
    • 888-265-7682
  • Curry
    • tbcenter@nationaltbcenter.ucsf.edu
    • 415-502-4600

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