The Union is extending TB support to the National TB Programme and the network of community health workers and volunteers in eight townships in the remote northern region of Sagaing.
The Union is extending tuberculosis (TB) support to the National TB Programme (NTP) and the network of community health workers and volunteers in eight townships in the remote northern region of Sagaing, in Myanmar.
The Community Based Integrated Tuberculosis Care Project was launched in March 2017 and supports a population of over 900,000 in a region where healthcare services are insufficient and hard to reach. The Union is leading implementation, which will focus on bolstering the community-led efforts while providing technical assistance to the NTP.
The project aims to double case detection rates in the eight townships and to achieve and maintain a treatment success rate of above 85 percent by the programme’s end in September 2018.
Union staff will establish a volunteer network and train community healthcare workers in basic TB outreach methods, treatment delivery, sputum collection and transport, and link this network with the NTP to improve coverage and patient access. The Union will also work with NTP staff to improve active case finding, through contact tracing and to ensure HIV testing and counselling is provided to all TB patients in the treatment centres.
The new project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and FHI360.
The Union has been providing services and support in Myanmar since 2005.