Rede Brasileira de Pesquisa em Tuberculose - REDE TB

Despite the significant progress of tuberculosis (TB) and nontuberculous mycobacteria research in Brazil, at the beginning of the millennium there was still a weak cooperation among the various actors in this area: industry, universities, research institutes, civil society and health services, including the National TB Program (NTP). In 2001, REDE-TB - the Brazilian TB Research Network - was created as a multidisciplinary group of Brazilian researchers, students, civil society and health services representatives working with TB and HIV/AIDS throughout the country. REDETB helped build the necessary bridges between these different actors to promote research and educational activities in an integrated manner. Recently, REDE-TB prepared the National Plan for Research in TB. We identified gaps and priorities for research and innovation platforms focused on national demands. These platforms will be based on the integration of basic/clinical/translational research with the industrial park in order to expedite the availability of new technologies and new management strategies for the health system. These technologies will be evaluated with operational research within the current Brazilian healthcare system in order to analyze its impact from the individual and collective perspective.