Challenge TB – Core Measurement Stigma Year 2 Quarterly Monitoring Report

The project is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under cooperative agreement number AID-OAA-A-14-00029. The project's workplan timeframe is July 2015 to September 2016, with the reporting period spanning October to December 2015. During this quarter, significant administrative and technical progress was made. Administrative achievements include the development and approval of sub-agreements between KNCV and two research institutions, the University of Antwerp and KIT Amsterdam, to support the project's objectives. Technical progress was made in seven key areas. The prevalence survey review involved an analysis of the role of prevalence surveys in TB control, which was conducted in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. The preliminary findings were presented in a symposium in Cape Town, and the consultant finalized the first draft of the report, which was submitted to USAID for review. The assessment of distribution and correlates of anticipated stigma in the general population involved the publication of an RFA for secondary data analysis of DHS data on anticipated stigma. The data were downloaded and pre-processed, and household, female, and male disaggregated data were appended by country for the selected 19 DHS study surveys. The assessment of distribution and correlates of enacted stigma in health care settings involved the publication of an RFA for secondary data analysis of health care worker discrimination in African health facilities. However, technical challenges were encountered due to the unique structure of each data set, resulting in a delay in sending some datasets to KIT. The assessment of robustness of existing TB stigma measures involved the collection of TB stigma scales, which has been challenging due to the fact that most are in the form of final reports of consultancies from GFATM and do not end up being published. KNCV initiated discussions with University of Vanderbilt epidemiologist Dr. Aaron Kipp to solicit his participation in the scale verification exercise. The systematic literature review of stigma reduction strategies involved the publication of an RFA, which was successfully awarded to the University of Antwerp. The protocol, data collection tools, and data entry templates were finalized, but the process took longer than anticipated due to lack of timely supervision of graduate students by senior staff at the University of Antwerp. The convening of expert meetings involved the definition of the main question and objectives of the TB Stigma Measurement meeting. Interest in the meeting has been high, but the project is experiencing challenges in managing the expanding demand from stakeholders to attend the meeting and reconciling it with the limited resources to cover travel. The project's geographic focus is on various countries, including Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The project's timeframes and recommendations are not explicitly stated in the report, but it is expected to be completed by the end of September 2016.