Design of New Rwanda Hospital Improves Ventilation, Air Circulation To Reduce TB Risk
A new hospital under construction in Rwanda's Burera district aims to reduce the spread of tuberculosis and other airborne diseases by incorporating design elements that promote air circulation, the New York Times reports. The hospital -- overseen by the Clinton Foundation, Partners in Health and Rwanda's Ministry of Health and designed by students at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design -- will feature outdoor walkways, open air waiting rooms and large staggered windows on opposing walls to facilitate ventilation (Venkataraman, New York Times, 8/19).
According to a study published last year in PLoS Medicine, changes in the way hospital wards are designed and ventilated could minimize the risk of spreading airborne diseases such as TB by up to 75%. For the study, researchers used a computer-generated model to project the movement of particles in the TB ward at Hospital Nacional Dos de Mayo in Lima, Peru. Using a model of a two-bedroom ward, the study found the movement of air particles around the ward was reduced significantly by creating a barrier between the two beds and moving the air vent (GlobalHealthReporting.org, 8/7/2007).
Changing the way hospitals are designed is "not revolutionary or difficult," Peter Drobac, clinical adviser to Partners in Health, said, adding that the "average hospital in rural Africa would have long dark hallways and the windows shut." According to the Times, several global health groups recently have started to promote new ways of building hospitals in low-income, rural areas worldwide to prevent the spread of TB and other airborne diseases (New York Times, 8/19).
