Infection control in a developing world.

The global HIV and tuberculosis (TB) epidemics have placed enormous burdens upon already overstretched healthcare workers and poorly resourced healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. The rapid emergence of multi-drug resistant TB, and its association with hospital-based outbreaks, have highlighted the role that healthcare facilities inadvertently may play in maintaining TB transmission, and the vital importance of attaining good TB infection control. James Elston, a specialist physician in infectious diseases and general internal medicine, who recently returned from a second stint in Swaziland, says many of the region's healthcare facilities are outdated, poorly ventilated, and were not designed for their current purpose.