Empowering communities to turn the tide in the fight against tuberculosis in Uganda
Situation:
The West Nile sub-region in Uganda has high poverty and food insecurity rates. Besides, the population faces multiple challenges, e.g. poor infrastructures, inadequate health literacy, and limited access to education, health facilities, and WASH. Inadequate health services, non-functional referral systems, as well as stigma and discrimination are among the main problems to end TB by 2030.
Objectives:
Strengthen and promote closer linkages between the community and the health system to improve quality, utilization, acceptance and knowledge of TB health care services
- Increase in community TB case notification rate from 90 % (2022) to 95 % by end of 2026
- Increase in community TB case detection rate from 40 % (2022) to 60 % by end of 2026
- Increase of TB treatment success rate from 85 % (2022) to 90 % by end of 2026
- Community dialogues
- Multiplicator (ToT) training on TB health care services
- Trainings in TB diagnostic approaches & laboratory biosafety
- Training in participatory storytelling
- Recording & dissemination of participatory videos
- Monthly outreaches
- Training of community workers through established multiplicators in TB services and data collection practices
- Selected Mentorships
- Bidirectional feedback mechanisms
- Supervisions and M&E visits
- Data verification exercises
The project will be aligned with existing health and community structures to achieve the desired linkages and contribution to universal health coverage and to the national community health strategy, which focuses on integrated community service delivery. It is a true integration of community-based health services and curative services to achieve equitable health outcomes for all populations and subgroups, reaching all people equally and leaving no one behind. The involvement of multiple stakeholders (NTLP, regional and local authorities, implementing partners such as the Infectious Diseases Institute) and close collaboration with community and village level stakeholders (e.g., health facilities, community leaders, community council members, local communities, and household heads) will ensure a high adoption rate and sustainability. Capacity building of health and community workers is one of the key pillars of the project and is instrumental in sustaining and embedding strengthened TB health services in the West Nile region.
The project's innovation is based on creating equitable access to holistic tuberculosis services for previously identified hotspot areas and hard-to-reach communities through household visits. Innovative communication strategies - such as participatory storytelling videos and audios - not only serve to increase demand for tuberculosis-related health services, but also encourage and initiate community participation to strengthen the link between the community and the health system.
Further information can be found here.
