What are international donors like PEPFAR doing to help the Government of Botswana to control drug resistant TB?
Makombe: U.S. support to TB/HIV-related activities in Botswana grew from $880,826 in 2006 to more than $4 million in 2007. PEPFAR has supported the revision of Botswana’s national guidelines containing internationally recommended TB management principles, including the correct diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients. In collaboration with other technical and funding partners, PEPFAR has supported the development of national training curricula on TB/HIV for medical officers and nurses, and is funding the roll-out of trainings to increase the knowledge and skills of health care workers in Botswana in the proper management of all types of TB. Insufficient laboratory capacity is a major obstacle to reliable and timely detection of drug-resistant TB. PEPFAR is supporting the Ministry of Health to improve the capacity of the National TB Reference Laboratory to perform high quality culture and drug susceptibility testing. BOTUSA has also facilitated the collaboration between the NTRL a
