HCI completes its third training seminar for National Medical Moderators in Central Asia

17-06-2010

Health Connections International (HCI) held its third training seminar for its National Medical Moderators in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, which took place 14–16 June 2010. The focus of this particular training centred around the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/TB co-infection.

Given the focus of HCI as an organisation and the high incidence of TB in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, this particular training seminar was designed to address issues related to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB in both adults and children. Likewise, with high rates of multi-drug resistant TB and co-infection of HIV and TB quite common in both countries, a considerable amount of time was devoted to covering these key topics as well. In order to best meet the needs of healthcare professionals in Central Asia, all of the topics included in the training seminar were selected based on the stated preferences of National Medical Moderators.

HCI is grateful to various regional and international experts for taking part and the delivery of topic-specific sessions during this training seminar. In particular, HCI extends its sincere gratitude to the following:
- Mr Ilhom Rahimov, Head of the Medical Department, Red Crescent National Society of Tajikistan;
- Dr Tologom Chubakov, Rector, Kyrgyz State Medical Institute for Continuing Education;
- Dr Djemma Jyspdjanova, Tuberculosis Education, ‘Project HOPE’ in Tajikistan;
- Mr Yagdar Turekhanov, Project Officer in the Republic of Tajikistan, AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW);
- Dr Umed Talbov, Dushanbe AIDS Centre, Tajikistan; and,
- Dr Jake Dunning, Imperial College, London, UK.

Sessions included lectures combined with group work and discussions on particular case studies. In addition to the focus on TB, sessions on harm reduction in relation to TB as well as a discussion of the National Medical Moderators’ experiences with HCI’s innovative knowledge- and information-sharing platform (KISP; www.myhci.org) were also included.

Whilst the training was intended to bring all 24 National Medical Moderators from both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Dushanbe for the training, recent events in Kyrgyzstan meant that several local staff from the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan were not able to attend. Plans are underway to ensure that these individuals do not miss out on the valuable information gleaned from the training seminar.

Early reports have hailed this training seminar as a great success, with new knowledge and skills surrounding TB gained and the opportunity to further solidify professional and personal bonds.