Fight against TB

Yearly 1.5 million people die on average of TB, the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19. That same COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the provision of and access to essential TB services, the number of people diagnosed with TB and notified as people affected by TB, and the TB disease burden. KNCV supports patient-centered approaches to the elimination of TB and related health problems, with innovation at the heart of KNCV work. Below you find some of the recent highlights in our work to fight TB.

Innovative digital solutions

ASCENT: Invest in innovative digital tools to end TB

The Unitaid-funded ASCENT project has entered its final year and is well on its way in showing the benefits in helping people affected by TB with their treatment by using digital adherence technologies. Follow the link and watch the video to see how an innovative tool such as the smart pill box works very well even in remote areas like in the north of Tanzania, and helps the patient with his treatment.

New approaches to test, treat & prevent

Three personal experiences with TB Preventative Treatment from Ethiopia

Expanding the access to and the awareness of Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) is essential to meet global End TB targets – which is the very core of the IMPAACT4TB project, that operates in 12 countries, including Ethiopia. We would like to share a couple of personal experiences with the relatively unknown and sometimes low-available TPT.

 

Highlights of the Integrated TB/Diabetes Project in Ethiopia

People living with diabetes mellitus (DM) have higher chances of getting infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. When infected, they progress faster to more advanced disease stage. Also, treatment outcomes are worse in people with DM. Recent estimates suggest that nearly one in ten adults have DM worldwide. To address this challenge, KNCV supported the TB program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to set up a routine testing system both for TB and DM. Read more on the outcomes of this recently concluded project, find the latest publication and watch the project video.

 

KardiaMobile for ECG monitoring: Innovative approach to help DR-TB patients in Kazakhstan

Patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) who receive treatment with new drugs or novel regimen need to be monitored throughout the treatment period due to the cardiotoxicity effect of some of these drugs in the regimen. The National Tuberculosis Program (NTP) in Kazakhstan, supported by KNCV specialists, has started a pilot implementation of personal ECG devices, KardiaMobile for ECG monitoring for DR-TB patients. Read more on how with this innovative technology, patients receive the opportunity to get their ECG recorded at the convenience of their homes.

 

Launch of the LIFT-TB website

The LIFT-TB website has been launched. The LIFT-TB initiative, to which KNCV contributes, seeks to save the lives and livelihoods of people with tuberculosis (TB), their families, and their communities by broadening and accelerating the adoption and scale up of novel drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment regimens and reducing the burden on health systems in seven countries. LIFT-TB primarily operates in Southeast and Central Asia. Follow this link to read more.

 

Volunteer women groups support TB treatment in Ethiopia

Young children are at increased risk of contracting TB from adults with infectious forms of the disease. Infection can be prevented by giving daily or weekly medicines for 3-6 months. Despite availability such preventive treatment, many children in Ethiopia die of TB. In partnership with Love In Action Ethiopia (LIAE), a local NGO, and as part of the TB REACH Wave 7 project of Stop TB Partnership, KNCV engaged women-led local associations called Iddirs as community mobilizers, contact tracers and treatment supporters in two districts in Ethiopia. Read more on the successes of this project and watch the video.

 

Diagnostics news

Introducing the SOS Stoolbox videos in various languages

Since 2020, with an update in 2021, the WHO recommends stool for the diagnosis of TB in children with signs and symptoms of tuberculosis (TB). The SOS Stoolbox is KNCV’s online package to support countries with the implementation of the Simple One-Step (SOS) stool processing method for Xpert MTB/RIF or Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay testing for the detection of M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in stool. As of now, you will also be able to access several videos, made by FIND, on the stool process in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Ukrainian through our SOS Stoolbox webpage. You can also find the SOS Stoolbox SOP available now in French.

 

Project ‘Painless Optimized Diagnosis of TB in Ethiopian Children’ successfully concluded

Lack of child-friendly diagnostic tools is one of the key barriers to detecting and treating TB in young children. The Painless Optimized Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Ethiopian Children (PODTEC) project was designed to address lack of child-friendly diagnostic tools and delay in specimen transportation as critical barriers to childhood TB care in Ethiopia. The project was recently concluded. Read more on the results and watch the video on the PODTEC project.

 

TREATS releases its final report

The TREATS (Tuberculosis Reduction through Expanded Antiretroviral Treatment and Screening for Active TB) project has released its final report. The research has taken more than 4 years and involved collaboration from the scientific, academic and local communities in SA and Zambia. The research has shed light on the evolving relationship between HIV and TB. KNCV has collaborated on the implementation of the Prevalence Survey of TREATS. Read more on the outcomes of the final report.