On August 30-Sept 1, 2004 Dr. Michael Cynamon of New York's Upstate Medical Center organized the workshop and conference "Multiple-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: Epidemiologic, Diagnostic, and Therapeutic Research Opportunities" in Tbilisi to identify areas of potential research collaboration in the area of Tuberculosis. This conference was held in the courtyard of the Hotel Mtiebi, and attended by 34 clincians and scientists from the U. S. and Georgi. It was the first scientific meeting on Tuberculosis to be hosted in the again independent Republic of Georgia. Nata Shubladze, PhD and Sergo Vashakidze, MD, PhD of the CTLD were among the first to provide the well-known traditional Georgian hospitality.
Georgia is currently experiencing a major MDR TB problem, and an estimated 15% of cases seen at the Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases in Tbilisi are multidrug drug resistant. Relevant antibiotics are available without prescription, and insufficient resources currently exist for implementation of the normally highly effective DOTS (Directly Observered Therapy) strategy. Large refugee populations from neighboring regions including Abkhazia, Southern Ossetia, and Chechnya are currently living in Tbilisi in crowded conditions increasing the likelyhood of escalating infection rates . Unlike other areas of endemic Tuberculosis, Georgia does not yet have a large HIV problem, and many opportunities for important clincal and basic research exist.
The August 2004 CRDF -funded (U. S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation) workshop resulted in a set of collaborative proposals that will potentially fund Georgian researchers to study the current Tuberculosis problem, and to make important scientific contributions to existing research programs in the U.S. Such studies are already underway in collaborations involving scientists at Emory University and those in Tbilisi's CTLD.
Click the door below to see some images from our visit.
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