Pesquisas operacionais em tuberculose no Estado de São Paulo Operational research in tuberculosis in the State of São Paulo

Abstract

The state of São Paulo, with its 41 million inhabitants, registers circa 21.000 tuberculosis (TB) cases per year. This is the highest contingent of the country, with an incidence coefficient of 45 cases per 100.000 inhabitants, a number that has been stable for the last years. The Regional TB Plan 2006-2015, from OPAS, has been followed by the Tuberculosis Control Program of the State of São Paulo (PCT-SP), with the strengthening of the DOTS strategy, included in the strategies of STOP-TB, in partnership with WHO. One of the six additional components is to promote and to make easier operational research in TB, conceived as a tool that may contribute to the implementation/acceleration/expansion of DOTS; not only health professionals must be involved in these strategies, but they must include, as well, universities and public authorities. Analyzing the situation of operational investigations in the “Region of the Americas”, there is not a clear conscience regarding the role of investigations for effective control of TB, and they are not a priority within PCTs as well. A major part of the studies that have been performed is not issued or, once finished, the studies cannot be implemented or do not target the solution of the epidemiological and operational limitations of PCTs. In 2007, the Global Fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Fund Project (The Global Fund) was started, an institution directed to the support of control actions for these diseases in countries where their prevalence is highest, with proposals presented in partnership with institutions which are representative of the organized civil society and the government. This project for TB previews, in one of their objectives, to promote and to facilitate operational research. The objective of this study is to describe operational investigations performed by the PCT-SP coordination, of the DvTBC/CVE/CCD/SES-SP, during 2007.