Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) infection is a leading cause of death worldwide, killing 1.6 million people in 2021, despite being curable with proper treatment. Reduced case finding during the COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in approximately 4.2 million cases of TB being ‘missed’. Sub-Saharan Africa is highly burdened with TB, including Mozambique, a country where TB, HIV/TB and drug resistant-TB are all prevalent.

Dr Celso Khosa, Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Mozambique, will be using our Meade Collaboration Travel Grant in Epidemiology to undergo a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTMH), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, working directly with Dr Tom Wingfield on this tailor-made epidemiological programme, to enhance his knowledge of public health, and allow him to apply epidemiological principles to aid the eradication of TB in Mozambique.

During this course, Dr Khosa will present on the response to TB, HIV/TB and drug resistant-TB in Mozambique, and the significance of this triple burden. Dr Khosa will also meet with Dr Paul Cleary, United Kingdom Health Security Agency Northwest Office, to discuss the individual- and community-level response to the UK’s application of the ‘National TB Surveillance’ database. Dr Khosa will additionally collaborate with Dr Jonathan Read, University of a Lancaster, to learn more about spatiotemporal epidemiology, and discuss potential analysis plans of a cohort study conducted in Mozambique and South Africa of people with TB. This study may also be analysed using complementary genomics data.

Dr Khosa aims to publish the analysis of these datasets, as well as supporting the National TB Programme in Mozambique with the analysis of within-country data and utilise these findings to make regional and national evidence-based changes to policies.