TB Infection Control

Your design & engineering course for airborne infection control

Started by Aamir Khan on 17 May 2009
Last edited by Julia Fischer-Mackey on 12 May 2010

Dear Dr. Nardell,

I am writing to express our deep gratitude for your support to our MDR-TB control efforts in Pakistan. You will be pleased to know that the 2008 summer course (Building Design and Engineering Approaches to Airborne Infection Control) attended by Tariq Qaiser and Zafar Zaidi from our hospital has had two major positive impacts in Pakistan, which I describe below.

Upon his return, Zafar convinced a city philanthropist to donate a new out-patient building for managing patients with drug-resistant TB. Tariq then purpose-designed the facility for airborne infection control, and it looks beautiful! The private donor and the National TB Program Manager did the groundbreaking for the new building on April 28, and construction is underway. The facility will also house a much larger BSL-3 facility than we currently operate, allowing us to bring more patients on to treatment. Thanks to your course and continued input, we are confident our facilities have been engineered appropriately for their intended purpose, and will minimize the risks of infection to our patients and health staff. I can not emphasize enough how important and reassuring this is for a program manager like myself.

During his visit, the NTP Manager saw the design of Tariq’s new building and was soon convinced that this effort needed to be expanded to other hospitals and laboratories in the country. I am very pleased to share with you that the Round 9 Global Fund application that I’ve been working on with NTP (submitted to the CCM on Friday) includes design and engineering renovations to 30 out-patient departments, 30 in-patient departments, 6 isolation wards, 8 BSL-3 labs, and 24 BSL-2 labs at a total cost of USD 9.7 over 5 years. This is a remarkable development, and I expect it to change the way health facilities are designed in Pakistan in the future.

I truly believe your course is already saving lives, and will save many more as you train more people. Thank you for all your hard work and for mentoring Tariq and Zafar so well. I really hope you can expand your program to accommodate more people from Pakistan! We desperately need more people trained.

Best wishes,
 
Aamir Khan, MD, PhD
Director, DOTS-Plus Program
Indus Hospital
Karachi

Keywords: Administrative Controls  Engineering Controls  Harvard Airborne IC Course  HSPH summer course  Pakistan  Personal Respiratory Protection  Training