Partnerships important in overcoming tuberculosis
SCIENTISTS alone cannot defeat tuberculosis, and wider international partnerships are needed to help combat the world’s top infectious disease killer.
One of the University of Otago’s latest Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellows, Dr Htin Lin Aung, has made that point on the eve of World Tuberculosis Day tomorrow.
After being awarded the fouryear $500,000 fellowship by the Health Research Council (HRC) last December, Dr Aung is making good progress in translating his research, at the microbiology and immunology department, into policy and practice.
He is also building relationships to help fight the disease.
‘‘I’m very encouraged. I’m very motivated,’’ Dr Aung said yesterday.
He was born in Myanmar, where about 26,000 people die from tuberculosis (Tb) each year, contributing to the annual global total of 1.7 million Tb deaths.
The Myanmar Government had given its support, ‘‘and we’re making a lot of progress’’, he said.
He has fostered an international partnership between Otago and the Myanmar Government through its Ministry of Health and Sports, to collaborate on research, training and capacity building, particularly in infectious diseases.
‘‘If you want to translate research into policy and practice you need policymakers, politicians and other key stakeholders on board.’’
Research showed that many of the antiTb drugs in Myanmar were ineffective, and new drugs to treat critically ill Tb patients were increasingly available, with strong support from the Myanmar Government.
HRC chief executive Prof Kath McPherson said tuberculosis was a significant issue in the region and Dr Aung’s research could mean ‘‘faster diagnosis and better targeting of treatment’’.
Dr Aung said that as a ‘‘good global citizen’’, New Zealand was also helping in the international fight against the disease, an effort which was complicated by the rise in drugresistant strains of Tb.
New Zealand itself was not immune to Tb, although most Tb patients in this country were people who had been born elsewhere.
It made sense for New Zealand to help fight Tb in countries like Myanmar, and ‘‘going out to the front lines and tackling Tb’’.
His longstanding mentor, Prof Greg Cook, of the microbiology and immunology department, says a real point of difference with the latest Hercus fellowship was that this was one of the few instances in which the research was mainly being carried out overseas, rather than in New Zealand.