| | October 2012 In this issue: - Mozambique Tb Team Deployed
- APOPO Improves its TB Detection Process
- APOPO Signs an MOU with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC)
- Mozambique Mine Action Has A New Ladies Team
 | | Mozambique TB Team Deployed  As part of the expansion of APOPO’s Tuberculosis Detection Program division into Mozambique, three trainers have been sent to help with the first stage of operations. A team of three Mozambiquans, Edson Manhica, Hassane Chinchia, and Katia Souto, were assembled and trained at the TB Headquarters in Tanzania for three months. They were trained and supervised by head TB trainers at APOPO’s facilities on every stage of training. The comprehensive training meant that the Mozambiquan team applied the knowledge in the lab, working in actual conditions. Mozambique is on the list of high TB burden countries, and 431 out 100,000 people have the deadly disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). APOPO hopes to help the country reach its goal of significantly reducing the contraction and spread of the disease. The program in Mozambique is just entering the first phase of operations and these three new trainers will help with facilitation of the program. Next month they will be joined by a small fleet of rats and the trainers will start handling and preparing them for training. The building, located in Maputo, is almost complete, and once cages are installed the rats will start training. The rats will evaluate sputum samples from five or six TB clinics in Mozambique. TB Manager Negussie Beyene: ”The start up in Maputo will serve as a litmus test for the replicability of our technology and so we are excited and looking forward to the launch.” The majority of APOPO’s TB work in Mozambique is funded by the Swiss Development Corporation and the Flemish government. | | APOPO Improves Its TB Detection Process  Experiments by APOPO’s behavioral research team have led to a way to increase productivity, decrease the lab technicians’ workload and reduce costs. Intent on further testing the extent of the rats’ ultrasensitive olfactory system, APOPO scientists removed one step from the TB detection process. Tanzania is high TB burden country and APOPO processes hundreds of samples weekly. Every week sputum samples are brought to the lab from APOPO’s 12 local partner hospitals so that the rats may screen for TB. Before the samples are presented to the animals, they are heat deactivated. During deactivation the samples often evaporate. So a chemical solution is added to the sputum in order to increase the sample volume. This saline solution is called a buffer. During this experiment, researchers presented the rats with virgin samples, sans buffer, in order to test the rats’ ability to detect TB. The rats were still able to detect the disease in the positive samples. A HeroRAT can process 40 samples in seven minutes; while a human averages 40 samples in a day. Now that the process has been shortened, people can be notified more quickly about their TB status. The removal of the step also helps reduce the lab technicians’ exposure to the disease. Amanda Mahoney, a Behavioral Researcher for APOPO: “This will optimize our lab procedures, saving two or three hours per day- and now that the technicians don’t have a reason to open the samples before deactivation- it optimizes safety as well.” | | APOPO Signs an MOU with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC)  CMAC and APOPO have agreed to work on a project for supporting the implementation of two CMAC Baseline Survey Teams to conduct baseline survey in six districts in the Eastern part of Cambodia during the four month period, 1 September 2012 to 31 December 2012. The signing of the MOU in Phnom Pehn formalizes this agreement between both organizations and it is APOPO`s intention to continue to support CMAC in future mine action efforts. CMAC is Cambodia`s leading mine action organization, working in the key areas of Survey and Land Release, Mine and UXO Clearance, Mine and UXO Risk Education and Training Research and Development. CMAC currently has 1,715 staff throughout Cambodia, including a national office in Phnom Penh, six provisional demining units and a training center in Kampong Chhnang, working towards the mission of saving lives and supporting development in the country. TeKimiti Gilbert, Head of Mine Action APOPO: "This MOU represents the first involvement APOPO has within Cambodia and it is seen as an opportunity for APOPO to enhance its support to the region and build upon the Non-Technical Survey work APOPO currently carries out in Thailand." | | Mozambique Mine Action Has A New Ladies Team  APOPO's Mine Action Program in Mozambique has a brand new all ladies demining team recruited to contribute to equal opportunity and employment in the area. This highly motivated team wholly comprises of women hired from the local communities- and all without prior demining experience. APOPO's ladies team has already started operations, removing hand grenades and POMZ mines from the Chokwe minefield in Southern Mozambique. As team leader Osa said: “We thank APOPO for the trust and will prove that we can do this job as well as the men”. This way forward – APOPO will soon also train a team of ten female rat handlers for its upcoming operations in Angola. In addition, APOPO has sent an additional group of 15 HeroRATs to strengthen its Mine Action projects in the country. In Chokwe, where our landmine operations are based, the new rats are exploring the environment and getting familiar with their new trainers. These HeroRATs are now undergoing their formal training and preparation for accreditation by the National Institute of Demining. They will practice sniffing for buried mines in the field early every morning for about a month. Once they train hard and pass the accreditation exam, the HeroRATs will immediately start operation in a live minefield. | | | | | |
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