Jaime Bayona and colleagues at Partners in Health (PIH) in Peru have created innovative programs that demonstrate ways to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in resource poor communities. The PIH-Socios En Salud community-based treatment program for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was initiated in 1996 when a community screening turned up a number of residents from Carabayllo, Lima who did not respond to therapy for tuberculosis. Over the subsequent years, PIH and Socios en Salud have persisted in their commitment to provide the sick with treatment. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Harvard Medical School, they have been developing community based MDR-TB treatment strategies appropriate to local circumstances by proving that MDR TB patients can be cured in resource-poor settings. DRCLAS is working with PIH to disseminate the results of their work throughout Latin America.

Participating Harvard faculty: HMS faculty and instructors, Jamie Bayona, Arachu Castro, Mercedes Becerra, Paul Farmer.

Collaborating Institutions: Socios en Salud, Lima, Perú.