TB lab progress

Work has begun on converting the aviation office at International Hospital into a small microbiology lab specialising in TB. We’ve had promises of $26,000 for all the work and equipment necessary to get us to start up and should be able to set up our first culture on 25^th July.

The technique we’re using, called the MODS (Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility) test, allows us to offer a cheap and reliable test for TB for the first time in Africa.

The ambition of the International MODS Network is to make this tool a routine component of TB management in low resource settings. In practice this means we will diagnose and treat people with TB much more quickly. We can also identify those with drug resistant TB before we start treatment.