Dar es Salaam

INDEPTH is an International Network of field sites with continuous Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in developing countries. At a meeting in Dar es Salaam in 1998, members of field sites based on demographic and health surveillance convened to establish the INDEPTH network. Seventeen field sites, drawn from 13 countries in Africa and Asia, participated in this constituting meeting.

The African Malaria Network Trust (AMANET) and researchers at the Malaria Research Training Center (MRTC), University of Bamako in Mali have launched a large scale study to evaluate the candidate malaria vaccine merozoite surface protein-3 long synthetic peptide (MSP3-LSP).

Former US President Bill Clinton and the Tanzanian president, Benjamin Mkapa, unveiled a new programme on Wednesday to train local medical workers to administer antiretroviral (ARVs) to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Former US President Bill Clinton and the Tanzanian president, Benjamin Mkapa, unveiled a new programme on Wednesday to train local medical workers to administer antiretroviral (ARVs) to people living with HIV/AIDS.

Tanzania trains rats to detect tuberculosis ******************************************* [DAR ES SALAAM] Scientists in Tanzania have successfully trained rats to detect tuberculosis (TB) in human saliva by smell, using techniques first developed to teach the animals to find landmines. The project has been carried out at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro. Researchers found that while a laboratory technician, using a microscope, can analyse only 20 samples of saliva a day, a trained rat can analyse about 120 to 150 samples in just 30 minutes. Both wild and laboratory-bred rats (Cricetomys gambianus) required four to six months of training to be able to detect TB bacteria successfully. According to Weetjens, it requires little human skill to train them, as the rats only have to be exposed to the smell that they need to recognise. The research was carried out last year using samples of human saliva from patients in the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, and Morogoro Regional Hospital. Weetjens adds that the main challenge is now to generate a sufficient supply of trained rats. He says that the World Bank has agreed to provide a grant of more than US$160,000 to help achieve this. Weetjens points out that since about 40 per cent of the 60,000 Tanzanians suffering from TB are HIV-positive, detecting TB at an earlier stage raises the chance of securing effective treatment for both diseases. He says that it is the speed and accuracy with which the rats can detect the TB infection that has encouraged researchers. . The university has already trained about 300 rats to detect landmines, but only a few are trained to detect TB bacteria. The World Bank grant will make it possible to train up to 400 rats for TB detection. Part of the grant will also be spent on building a new laboratory for TB testing at a centre run by Apopo, a Belgian-funded research group based in Antwerp that runs the landmine training centre. Twenty rats have already been sent to Mozambique, where they are currently engaged in detecting landmines left over from the country's civil war. Weetjens points out that rat detection of TB is a cheap and affordable technique, as the animals have a highly developed sense of smell, and are easy to tame and train, as well as to maintain and transport. Furthermore they are found all over the African continent, adapt easily to new environments, and appear to enjoy performing repetitive tasks. (Source: Deodatus Balile, SciDev.Net, 28 December 2003)

The EU is leading a programme to accumulate €600 million for clinical trials in Africa that will conduct research and development on possible vaccines for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The programme, known as the Europe-Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), intends to link national clinical research programmes from across Europe with scientists working in developing countries, mostly in Africa, to develop new drugs. The EU said that the EDCTP hoped to pool the resources of EU member states, plus Norway, into one research programme, resulting in the largest clinical trials programme ever to have targeted Africa. The EU said the money would be used purely for research. Of the proposed €600 million, the European Commission has set aside €200 million from community funds, and a further €200 million will be drawn from the national clinical research projects of countries participating in the programme. Donors and public-private partnerships will provide the remaining €200 million. The EDCTP was launched in April 2002 but the initial activities, which will involve capacity building in undisclosed locations across Africa, are due to begin in October 2003. ( Source: IRIN 2 September2003).