Spirometry course Maputo Mozambique

5-9 August 2019

The team at CISPOC (Centro de Investigação e Treino em Saúde da Polana Caniço) in Maputo are simply delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the week with them in learning spirometry over 4 days. Having a variety of learners - some totally new to spirometry and some experienced in spirometry - was not difficult as such was the culture of this good-natured team that the experienced attendees were happy to assist the newbies in their learning. 

We spent our first 3 days at the TB Sequel Clinic in the mornings becoming proficient in the practical of spirometry by practicing calibration and linearity checks. We conducted spirometry tests on each other and later on tested real-life patients from the on-site health centre where the new students got to understand just how tricky a simple spirometry test can be! Our afternoons were spent in the classroom correlating the theoretical concepts to the practical learnt in the mornings. Our programme culminated in theory and practical assessments on the 4th day.

We completed our learning with a ½ day Spirometry Quality Assurance and Over-Reading workshop which is helpful for everyone in understanding what happens on the other side of a completed spirometry test and how we fine tune the data captured in research.

Thank you very especially to Celso, Pedroso, Cristovao, Orlando and the entire TB Sequel and CISPOC teams for working hard to ensure everything ran smoothly and making my visit happy and memorable. Maputo and this team have definitely taken a piece of my heart.

Now I am looking forward to passing on the knowledge to a new spirometry lead for Mozambique and trust that the next report from this country will include stories of great progress in this area. Obrigado!

Lindsay Zurba,

10 August ‘19