Annual Report Fiscal Year 2021 Tuberculosis Supplement

A primary focus of the project is to develop the capacity of laboratories in over 20 partner countries to provide safe, timely, and accurate diagnostic testing. IDDS also collaborates with partner countries to set up disease surveillance systems that can effectively record cases and quickly analyze and report data. Tuberculosis (TB) is a major focus for IDDS as it remains one of the world's leading infectious disease killers. Globally, TB continues to kill more people each year than HIV and malaria combined, and it is among the top 10 causes of death in Africa and Asia. Drug-resistant forms of TB, including multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), are a major public health challenge because they are more deadly and more difficult and expensive to diagnose and treat. IDDS continued its work in FY 2021 to strengthen the ability of health systems to quickly detect and track TB, even in the face of the continued COVID-19 pandemic, political and civil unrest, natural disasters, power outages, internet connectivity issues, staff and commodity shortages, and other challenges in partner countries. IDDS safely and successfully continued its work in FY 2021, delivering results in TB control. One of the key areas of focus for IDDS is nurturing the next generation of laboratory workers. IDDS is enhancing existing TB laboratory workforce through training, mentoring, and supportive supervision to improve the quality of TB testing. This year, IDDS training supported 21 laboratory technicians and analysts to operate and maintain critical TB testing equipment such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines in Bangladesh. IDDS also embedded diagnostic specialists at the National and two Regional Tuberculosis Reference Laboratories in Bangladesh to mentor staff and improve the quality of their work. IDDS also thinks long-term, recognizing that sustaining investments is crucial to overcoming human resource challenges faced by TB diagnostic systems in countries. IDDS trained a pool of 27 TB diagnostic network supervisors on the latest edition of the Zimbabwe TB Diagnostic Network Supportive and Supervision Checklist to institutionalize monitoring of laboratory performance. IDDS also strengthened management capacity and leadership of the NTP by supporting revisions to TB diagnostic algorithms as per the latest international guidelines and best practices in Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. IDDS builds capacity in laboratories by training and mentoring laboratory managers, technicians, and analysts across countries, ensuring that laboratories have functional equipment and necessary supplies, and providing targeted infrastructure improvements. IDDS helps introduce the latest diagnostic technology and establishes systems for ensuring quality and safety. IDDS efforts have also targeted TB control and response diagnostic networks, equipping laboratories with needed diagnostic equipment, ensuring that equipment is functional, and providing necessary supplies. In Tanzania, IDDS built capacity for monitoring and managing GeneXpert machines remotely by equipping the National Data Centre with a GxAlert server and initiating processes to equip GeneXpert machines with GxAlert routers. These actions facilitated GeneXpert inventory, management, and use, allowing GeneXpert machines to be connected 89 percent of the time in December 2020, compared to 49 percent in the previous year.