Professor Guy B. Marks, President of the Global Respiratory Society (The Union) and Head of Epidemiology at the Woolcock Institute for Medical Research, introduced the ACT5 project and gave an overview of the evaluation phase.

At the conference, TB experts evaluated and reported on the intervention results as well as lessons learned in the first phase of the project. In addition, ACT5 representatives also presented a plan to implement the evaluation phase in Ca Mau. From here, provincial health officials discussed with experts to have a plan to coordinate the management of active TB and infectious diseases as well as support better treatment.

The main objective of the ACT5 project is to evaluate the effectiveness of community screening combined with universal treatment of latent tuberculosis and detection and treatment of active tuberculosis, on the prevalence of tuberculosis in the population over a 2-year study period in the community living in Ca Mau province. The ACT5 project will be implemented in Ca Mau province from April 2022, and screening will be completed in May 2024.

Doctor Nguyen Quang Phu, Deputy Director of the Center for Disease Control of Ca Mau province , assessed the tuberculosis situation in Ca Mau province in recent times.

Master Luu Boi Khanh, ACT5 Project Manager, said: “Through the process and progress of implementing the intervention phase of the ACT5 project, we assess that implementing large-scale screening and universal treatment of latent tuberculosis in the community is completely feasible. The reported data shows that the 3HP regimen is safe in treating latent tuberculosis. Adverse events with seriousness and requiring special attention account for a very small proportion compared to the total number of adverse events recorded throughout Ca Mau city. These cases have all recovered completely after stopping the drug. For cases of liver poisoning, we assess that the cause of the event is not only due to the side effects of anti-tuberculosis drugs but also from acute episodes of viral hepatitis or the habit of using large amounts of alcohol with regular frequency.”

Lam Khanh

Source: https://baocamau.vn/trien-khai-sang-loc-benh-lao-theo-du-an-act5-a38997.html