December 2006

Dear Friends,

     I would like to update you on some exciting and important new developments in the Prajnopaya Foundation's Tuberculosis Treatment and Prevention (TBTP) program. As you may be aware, our work in addressing the global menace of TB has been focused in the state of Bihar, India. This populous state is home to the poorest Indians, with more than 50% falling below the national poverty limit. Low income combined with a poorly developed infrastructure has resulted in a high percentage of the population being denied easy or affordable access to medical care. In March 2006, three TBTP screening camps were organized by Prajnopaya, with assistance from the Bihar Tuberculosis Association, in three villages over three days. Of the 1137 patients screened during the 3-day camps, greater than 50% were found to have active TB and were prescribed treatment.

     The preliminary results from our first camp are in and they look very promising. Assisted by a dedicated staff of local doctors and volunteers, an overall recovery rate of 77% of all patients was achieved. This was achieved at only $75 per patient for 6-8 months of treatment. Based on the success of our first trial, we plan to run TBTP clinics again in late 2007.

     For the next clinic, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to link up with the MIT IDEAS competition, which is holding its inaugural 2006/2007 Muhammad Yunus Innovation Challenge to Alleviate Poverty. The competition is soliciting proposals from MIT students to address the difficulties of increasing adherence to tuberculosis drugs in rural developing country contexts.

     Another new development is our work on developing web-based medical assessment kiosks that will be deployed in rural villages. Many rural communities in India have very infrequent visits by trained medical doctors, in some places only a few times per year. The kiosks will help fill this gap by utilizing on-line medical assessment forms, supported by locally trained volunteers. The modularity and low power requirements of the kiosks will enable them to be placed in communities with very little supporting infrastructure.

     On a final note, I would like to introduce myself and my involvement in the TBTP project. Starting in August of 2006, I was motivated to become project coordinator for the TBTP program. From 1998 to 2003, I attended graduate school in Cambridge, MA, followed by a post-doc position in the Technology and Development Program at MIT from 2003-2004. Since then, I have been an Assistant Professor in the Energy and Environment Program at the Malaysia University of Science and Technology in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since becoming coordinator, I have had the privilege of working with a number of very talented volunteers. Mojabeng Phoofolo is a medical student on leave of absence in Singapore, Zahra Kanji currently works at MassGeneralHopsital in molecular biology research, and Umang Kumar is a software engineer in the New England area.

     The Prajnopaya Foundation continues to rely on contributions of time and finances from our members and friends. I encourage you to find out more information about the TBTP project by visiting our website (http://www.prajnopaya.org/found_tb.htm). We look forward to your participation.

Best wishes for this holiday season and the coming new year!

With Palms Together,

Scott Kennedy

Project Coordinator, TBTP

Click here to view the testimonials of some cured patients.

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and in India [under Section 80(G) of IRS].