The emphasis for advocacy, communication and social mobilisation (ACSM) activities geared towards TB control in India should be on cohesion and quality of activities and materials rather than just completion of deliverables, says The Union South-East Asia (USEA) in a recently released report...

The emphasis for advocacy, communication and social mobilisation (ACSM) activities geared towards TB control in India should be on cohesion and quality of activities and materials rather than just completion of deliverables, says The Union South-East Asia (USEA) in a recently released report.

The report is the outcome of the International Technical Assistance Mission to Project Axshya and provides a detailed review of the project’s first year along with recommendations to tackle some of the issues raised.

Project Axshya is a civil society initiative led by USEA.  It supports the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) of India in expanding the programme’s reach and effectiveness through engagement with community-based providers. The goal is to improve the quality of TB services and to increase access to vulnerable groups like women and children, the marginalised and TB/HIV co-infected populations. It is being implemented in close collaboration with nine non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners in a phased manner covering 90 districts across 15 states in Year 1 and expanding to 300 districts across 21 states by 2012.

According to the report, in its first year of implementation, the technical assistance mission has put systems and structures in place and key output indicators (such as number of meetings and activities held) for Project Axshya were achieved.

The report however also stresses that that the number of workshops or sensitisation activities held is ultimately a poor indicator of project success. If these activities are not well planned or are inexpertly facilitated, they will likely have no meaningful behavioural outcomes.   

Among the recommendations made is the urgent need for all partners to work towards the project’s paramount objective, which is to bring about behavioural change. Project Axshya’s success and improvement hinge on establishing this as a strong foundation.

Other recommendations include the need for a state-level ACSM task force comprising all key stakeholders working on TB control and intensified coordination and planning with district officials.

To obtain a copy of the report, please contact Dr Geetanjali Sharma ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).