Tuberculosis control initiative launched

West African health officials have formed a regional organisation to boost their efforts to fight tuberculosis. The West Africa TB Control Initiative (WATCI) was created in Togo at a 16-18 April meeting that brought together the heads of anti-TB programmes and departments from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. WATCI aims to foster joint efforts against tuberculosis by West African countries, including through the exchange of information: its plans include setting up a joint tuberculosis data base for the 15 countries, as well as the publication of a twice-yearly scientific bulletin on the disease. "The creation of such a regional organisation enables us to fill a gap in the fight against this illness whose incidence has increased significantly because of HIV-AIDS," the coordinator of the new body, Tidjani Osseni, said at the meeting, which also recommended training for anti-TB officials in data management and analysis. The health officials called on their governments to support national anti-TB programmes so as to reduce to a minimum their dependence on external funding.