Disease Prevention and Control / Communicable Diseases / Tuberculosis
Final Report of the International Workshop on Tuberculosis Control in Prisons(San Pedro Sula, Honduras, 11–13 August, 2003) | ||
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Full Text (25 pp, PDF, 1112 KB; links in Table of Contents to chapters listed below) 1. Introduction 
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Introduction | Workshop Objectives | Synopsis Prisons represent a challenge for tuberculosis control authorities. They promote the transmission of the disease by sheltering a vulnerable population that often lacks access to timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Prisons have therefore been labeled as TB breeding grounds. Over the last decade, the problem of TB in prisons, and the need to control the disease in these settings, has been recognized. To control TB effectively and in a sustainable fashion, an integrated approach should be taken that includes health officials from both the civilian sector (National TB Programs, NTP) and the prison system. In collaboration with the Honduran NTP, the Regional TB Program of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Gorgas Tuberculosis Initiative of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) joined forces to promote the expansion of DOTS into the prison systems of Latin America through an international workshop, which took place August 11-13, 2003 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The meeting brought together NTP and prison health officials from Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. Also invited were speakers from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Regional NTP coordinators and prison medical directors from Honduras participated as well.
The meeting took place over two and a half days. The opening ceremony was attended by Fatima Valle Delgada from the PAHO mission in Honduras, Francisco Zamora of USAID/Washington, and Angel Coca of the USAID mission in Honduras. The Ministry of Health was represented by Nohemi Paz, Director of the National TB Program, and the Ministry of Security was represented by Federico Bonilla, Director of San Pedro Sula Prison. The sponsors of the workshop, Michael E. Kimerling, Director of the Gorgas TB Initiative at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Rodolfo Rodriguez, PAHO's Regional Advisor for TB, presided over the meetings. The workshop included presentations by staff of the Gorgas TB Initiative, PAHO, the Honduran NTP, ICRC, and the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) of São Paulo, Brazil. Presentations were also given on the status of TB in prisons in Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. On the second day of the workshop, a work session was held for NTP and prison health representatives to design an action plan to be implemented in each country. This document included the components for expansion of DOTS into prisons, and will serve as a method of measuring progress toward program success in these prisons. On the third day, the international participants visited San Pedro Sula Prison to observe a functioning DOTS program. They then drafted an agreement that included elements necessary for successful implementation of TB control among this high risk population in their respective countries, such as political commitment, advocacy and intersectoral coordination. It should be noted that among the points agreed upon was an evaluation of the progress made toward the implementation of each action plan. Gorgas and PAHO agreed to co-sponsor a follow-up meeting in one year to discuss this progress. At the end of the workshop, the international participants filled out a questionnaire to evaluate the quality of the workshop. The event closed with a dinner attended by the Honduran Minister and Vice-Minister of Health, Elias Lizardo and Fanny Mejia, respectively, as well as the Director of the Division of Infectious and Chronic Diseases, Luis Alberto Medina. |
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