More than 60 participants coming from 20 different countries were present. On this occasion, we were pleased to announce that a new member will join the GABRIEL Network in 2012: the National Centre of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Tbilisi, Georgia represented by Maka Akhalaia.
During the meeting, the main results of the teams involved in the pilot study in pneumonia and tuberculosis resistance were presented. Themes such as fevers, resistance to antibiotics and antivirals were also the subject of presentations. Two workshops, one on ‘biosampling’ and the other on ‘epidemiology’, were organized to harmonize the practices of sample collection and storage and to determine the essential and necessary elements for the implementation of an epidemiology study.
A seminar on Tuberculosis and on Acute Lower Respiratory Infection was organized on 4-5 December 2011, in the context of the ‘Réseau Science et Technique Afrique Caraïbes de soutien à la lutte contre les Maladies Infectieuses’ (AFRICARAMI), cofinanced by the ACP Programme for Science and Technology and by the Mérieux Fondation, a programme of the ACP Group of States with the financial support of the European Commission. The seminar brought together over 90 scientists of all nationalities and international experts in these areas.