During the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges of tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant TB remain a major public health concern. In response, WHO has joined forces with TB laboratory staff and WHO collaborating centres in the Russian Federation to strengthen and improve the quality of TB laboratory services, with the support of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
An interactive online workshop on state-of-the-art laboratory diagnostic methods for drug-resistant TB was held on 3 December 2020, with participants from across the 11 time zones of the Russian Federation (from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok) and more than 20 countries of the WHO European Region.
The workshop was initiated by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Training in Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Novosibirsk, with the involvement of WHO and the European Laboratory Initiative on TB, HIV and Viral Hepatitis (ELI). Approximately 230 laboratory specialists took part.
The following topics were introduced during the workshop:
- the newly released “WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 3: Diagnosis – rapid diagnostics for tuberculosis detection”;
- the OpenWHO interactive online training course “Drug-resistant tuberculosis: how to interpret rapid molecular test results”;
- the ELI quality-assurance dashboard for TB drug susceptibility testing;
- the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB laboratory facilities in the Region and the support mechanisms provided by WHO/Europe; and
- the Russian Federation’s experience with TB laboratory services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her closing remarks, Dr Natalia Stavitskaya, Director of the Novosibirsk Tuberculosis Research Institute, said, “Despite the impossibility of face-to-face meetings this year (which we are all missing very much), given the importance of the End TB global goals, it is very important to use every opportunity to discuss as much and as often as possible everything new that science gives us. Only when we share experiences and information do we become stronger in our struggle. To be together and to help all those in need is our main purpose.”