Annual Report: Challenge TB – Mozambique Year 2

The project aims to build upon previous USAID tuberculosis (TB) prevention and treatment efforts. FHI 360 serves as the lead partner for the project in Mozambique, providing technical leadership and ensuring coordination, management, and monitoring of project activities at the country level. The project team accelerated activities in year two, focusing on critical tasks such as the start-up of Community-based DOTS (CB-DOTS). Due to the short implementation period in year one, the project carried over approximately one million dollars into year two. The year two work plan was approved in early October 2015, allowing the project to focus on activities supporting the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) at central and provincial levels. Key achievements in year two include the revitalization of TB activities in prisons. The Challenge TB project led the TB in Prisons Working Group, which developed prison information, education, and communication (IEC) flyers for the first time in Mozambique. The flyers were approved and are now in use across the country. The project trained prison guards and inmates in TB prevention, identifying 161 presumptive cases out of 250 prisoners screened. Of the presumptive cases referred to a nearby health facility, 30 were diagnosed with TB. The project also supported laboratory strengthening by hosting a national meeting of all three reference laboratories. The meeting discussed challenges and constraints facing the two Regional Reference Laboratories (RRL) in Beira and Nampula, resulting in critical interventions, including staff changes in Beira and the decision to implement a specimen transportation system. In addition, the project improved the quality of health systems for TB prevention and care, training health professionals on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), pediatric TB, and laboratory interventions at central, provincial, district, and health facility levels. The project also strengthened the national reference laboratory (NRL) and NTP monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems. The Challenge TB project in Mozambique has made significant progress in year two, focusing on critical activities to support the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) and improve TB prevention and care in the country. The project's achievements in revitalizing TB activities in prisons and laboratory strengthening demonstrate its commitment to addressing the challenges facing Mozambique's TB control program. The project's work plan for year two was approved in early October 2015, allowing it to focus on activities supporting the NTP at central and provincial levels. The project's key achievements in year two include revitalizing TB activities in prisons, laboratory strengthening, and improving the quality of health systems for TB prevention and care. The project's progress in year two demonstrates its commitment to addressing the challenges facing Mozambique's TB control program.