On Friday May 12, the CaPThai project team visited the facilities dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis at Trang Hospital. This visit, in preparation for future clinical trials, provided an opportunity for exchanges between the hospital's medical staff and members of the scientific project.
The CaPThai project team, composed of members of the Thai Ministry of Public Health's Division of Tuberculosis (DTB) and Tamara Tovar-Sanchez, IRD Project Manager, visited the Trang Hospital's tuberculosis team. The aim of the visit was to present the clinical study protocol. Discussions between the medical staff and CaPThai members also helped to answer certain questions and gain a better understanding of the hospital's needs.
© Guillaume Marchand
Exchange between Dr. Booncherd Kladphuang, Trial Manager at DTB, and Mrs. Tamara Tovar-Sanchez, CaPThai Project Manager for IRD
© Guillaume Marchand
Exchanges between CaPThai project members and Trang hospital medical staff
© Guillaume Marchand
Dr. Krongkaew Thongruang Suksai, receives gifts from the CaPThai team, in the presence of hospital staff caring for TB patients.
The nursing staff then took the CaPThai team into the premises where tuberculosis patients are diagnosed and treated. The medical team, comprising three doctors, a nurse and two care assistants, welcome patients from Monday to Friday. One room is reserved for the doctor's diagnosis, another for the pharmacy and administration, and finally, outside, an office provides tests for the patients' family members.
© Guillaume Marchand
Waiting room in front of the tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment facilities
© Guillaume Marchand
Consultation room where the doctor examines patients. The Tuberculosis Referral Nurse, Mrs. Rungrudee Ukkhat, leads the tour of the premises with Dr. Kridsada Faksawat, Trial Data Officer at DTB, Mrs. Tamara Tovar-Sanchez and a hospital nurse's auxiliary.
© Guillaume Marchand
Study of the consultation room and diagnostic tools by the DTB team
© Guillaume Marchand
An auxiliary nurse from the hospital's tuberculosis unit in front of the door of the TB pharmacy
© Guillaume Marchand
Discussions on tuberculosis treatment with Ms Tamara Tovar-Sanchez, Head of the CaPThai project for IRD, Dr Kridsada Faksawat, Trial Data Officer at DTB and Ms Rungrudee Ukkhat, Tuberculosis Referral Nurse.
© Guillaume Marchand
Space dedicated to consultation and prevention for members of a patient's household
The aim of the CaPThai research project is to update and refine guidelines for the detection and prevention of tuberculosis in Thailand. To achieve this mission, the project team will set up a clinical trial to study the correlation between treatments and outcomes conducted by the hospital health system. Twenty of the country's provincial hospitals, partners in the project, will take it in turns to randomly conduct the experimental study. They will also evaluate the possibility of increasing active case detection and TB prevention through an intervention focused on household members of newly detected TB cases.
The research project will be carried out in provincial public hospitals of varying sizes, but also with distinct regional issues. The results will be compared with each other on the basis of feedback from:
- Curative treatment of tuberculosis patients
- Preventive treatment of household members of TB patients
- Training in these treatments for nurses in charge of tuberculosis patients
One of CaPThai's specific characteristics is its inclusion of adults and children, whether they are national citizens, migrants or refugees living in the country, and whether or not they are living with HIV. The visit is part of a series of meetings with the various care providers in the partner hospitals to explain the CaPThai project protocols.
The CaPThai project is coordinated by Dr Christian Lienhardt, IRD Research Director, and implemented in Thailand by Dr Phalin Kamowat, Director of the Thai Ministry of Public Health's DTB.