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| National |
| Malawi shoots down WHO recommendation |
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by
Simon Mbvundula, 12 October 2005
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08:23:55
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Malawi’s Tuberculosis Control Programme has rejected a joint World Heath Organisation (WHO) and Unicef technical mission recommendation that Aids patients on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and have been diagnosed with TB should continue with the treatment.
National TB Control Programme Manager Felix Salaniponi said on Sunday the technical mission’s recommendation lacks scientific evidence.
Siabhan Crowley, head of the joint mission, said on Friday that his mission was concerned with the discontinuation of the ART for Aids patients who are also TB positive saying it was bad clinical practice.
“We are concerned that treatment is discontinued if one is found with TB. That is not good clinical practice,” said Crowley in Lilongwe at the end of five-day workshop.
During the workshop, the joint mission pledged to support the scaling-up of the Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission of HIV and Aids and paediatric HIV care implementation in a revised five-year plan.
Crowley’s mission recommended that ARTs should be continued for the duration of the TB treatment regardless of whether or not it contains nevirapine.
But Salaniponi warned that Malawi should be careful because the mission’s recommendation lacks evidence.
In this regard, he challenged the mission to come up with scientific literature saying medicine is based on practical evidence.
“What we are doing [here] is a worldwide practice. We need scientific literature as evidence [to adopt the recommendation] otherwise, we need to be careful,” he warned.
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