The First Regional TB Infection Prevention and Control Training at the National TB IC Training Center in Tajikistan

The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) “TB Infection Control Demonstration Site and Base for National Training” project in Tajikistan, implemented by Project HOPE, is showing great success within one year of its implementation. The project has accomplished its set objectives and targets, and using program savings, conducted the first regional TB Infection Control (TB IC) training for National TB Program (NTP) representatives from Central Asia Republics (CAR). This project is implemented within the framework of the USAID TB CARE II Project led by the University Research Co. (URC).

The project:

• Obtained official status of a National Training Center by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection
• Established a national team of 14 trainers
• National trainers provided trainings for 61 health care workers
• 15 key facilities developed and started implementation of TB IC plans and monitoring of its implementation
• Survey on TB status of health care workers (HCWs) was conducted and 3,853 HCWs were screened for ТВ symptoms. 122 identified as TB suspects further tested for TB and 10 TB cases were detected
• Several telemedicine sessions with the Oblast level TB hospitals, and monthly webinars were conducted for HCW’s of Machiton Hospital

With the success of the project, the idea of using the National Training Center as a regional training base for CAR was supported by the NTP managers of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. To address this interest, the first regional TB IC training in the center was organized by the project on February 2015. Fifteen health care workers from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan participated in the training with international experts/trainers from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, USA (CDC), Prof. Paul Jensen and Garry Blackwelder were involved as lead trainers.

The goal of the regional training was to strengthen participants’ competencies in TB IC planning and implementation by updating them on best practices and tools in TB IC.

At the end of the training course participants were able to:

• Differentiate appropriate TB IC measures based on the situation analysis.
• Plan and design TB IC activities in accordance with national guidelines on IC.
• Apply a constructive feedback technique for monitoring and evaluation.

Training participants will further improve the TB IC plans and implement TB IC measures in their facilities and areas of responsibilities, and train their colleagues in their home countries.

The regional TB training also allowed the national trainers to gain experience in conducting a regional training, as well as be directly mentored by international experts/trainers and allowed opportunities for the national trainers to discuss their questions/concerns, lessons learned and benefit from hands-on recommendations.

Here is what a few of the participants had to say:

“I was familiar with the measures for infection control, but after going through this training realized that my knowledge was very superficial. I will share the knowledge gained during the training with my colleagues” – participant from Uzbekistan

“….the difference between this and other trainings that I took before was the good combination of the theory sessions and practise sections” – participant from Kazakhstan.

“I would advise my colleagues to come and participate in the training on TB infection control at this National TB IC training center, because here they have all conditions not only to teach but also to demonstrate the proper compliance with infection control in TB facilities” – participant from Kyrgyzstan.

This initiative positively impacted the status of the Center and serves as an excellent model for the future regional trainings.