The contribution of a non-governmental organisation's Community Based Tuberculosis Care Programme to case finding in Myanmar: trend over time
Assesses the contribution of a Community Based TB Care Programme by local non-government organizations
Abstract
Background
It is estimated that the standard, passive case finding (PCF) strategy for detecting cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Myanmar has not been successful: 26% of cases are missing. Therefore, alternative strategies, such as active case finding (ACF) by community volunteers, have been initiated since 2011. This study aimed to assess the contribution of a Community Based TB Care Programme (CBTC) by local non-government organizations (NGOs) to TB case finding in Myanmar over 4 years.
Methods
This was a descriptive study using routine, monitoring data. Original data from the NGOs were sent to a central registry within the National TB Programme and data for this study were extracted from that database. Data from all 84 project townships in five regions and three states in Myanmar were used. The project was launched in 2011.
Conclusions
Contrary to expectations and evidence from previous studies in other countries, a concerning reduction in TB case finding by local NGO volunteer networks in several areas in Myanmar was recorded over 4 years. This suggests that measures to support the volunteer network and improve its performance are needed. They may include discussion with local NGOs human resources personnel, incentives for the volunteers, closer supervision of volunteers and improved monitoring and evaluation tools.
This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)
Citation
Maung HMW, Saw S, Isaakidis P, Khogali M, Reid A, Hoa NB, Zaw KK, Thein S, Aung ST. The contribution of a non-governmental organisation’s Community Based Tuberculosis Care Programme to case finding in Myanmar: trend over time. Infectious Diseases of poverty. 2017;6(1):51.