The 2nd meeting of the European Tuberculosis Laboratory Initiative (ELI) was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 7-8 October 2013. This meeting was realized with the support of the Dutch and Belgian Governments and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The objectives of the meeting were to:
- update participants on the epidemiology of multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) in the European Region;
- inform about the recent developments in the molecular diagnosis of M/XDR-TB;
- support laboratory strengthening by presentations on the new biosafety guidelines and management of TB laboratories;
- review progress towards the implementation of the laboratory component of "The Consolidated Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Multidrug- and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) in the WHO European Region 2011–2015".
65 representatives from 23 countries in the Region, mainly those where TB is a high priority, joined the meeting and discussed issues including experiences with TB laboratory development plans, progress with the implementation and scale-up of rapid diagnostics of M/XDR (including the Xpert MTB/RIF and line probe assays); and quality management in TB laboratories. The participants also included representatives of national and supranational TB reference laboratories, WHO’s StopTB department, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Key outcomes of the meeting included:
- a general overview of progress in developing and implementing TB laboratory development plans in the Region and the exchange of experiences between countries;
- identification of challenges in the scale up of rapid M/XDR-TB detection and suggestions for the way forward to address these;
- initial work on the development of standard algorithms for modern laboratory diagnosis of TB in high and low-burden countries of the Region.