Quarterly Monitoring Report: Challenge TB – Mozambique Year 2 January-March 2016

The program is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and aims to improve TB case detection, treatment, and management. In Year 2, the program has made significant progress in implementing Community-Based Directly Observed Treatment (CB-DOTS) in 38 districts across three provinces: Tete, Zambézia, and Sofala. As of March 2016, 15 districts in Tete province have initiated CB-DOTS activities, with 336 volunteers, 43 activists, and 15 supervisors trained on the community DOTS strategy. The program has also supported the training of 35 NTP district supervisors and their deputies in TB program management, with a notable improvement in their knowledge and skills. The program has also made progress in supporting the NTP Lab department on their TB Laboratory Strategic Plan. Consultative meetings were held to discuss the plan, and the Ministry of Health is planning to conduct a national laboratory network review with a comprehensive gap analysis in 2016. The CTB lab officer is involved in the development and design of the National Lab Strategic Plan. In addition, the program has supported panel testing for reference labs, with panels for Line Probe Assay and Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST) received from the Milan Supra National Laboratory (SRL) in December 2015. Results from the panel will be available in Q2. The program has also provided long-term assistance to Beira and Nampula for comprehensive, high-quality diagnostics, with a visit plan elaborated by CTB/NRL technical support. The program has faced some technical and administrative challenges, including the political/military tension in some parts of the country, which has affected activity implementation of CB-DOTS and scheduled trainings. The program has also faced delays and barriers to timely access data, including data needed for full reporting in this quarterly report. As of March 2016, the program has achieved 19% of its planned milestones, with 18 milestones partially met and 8 not met. The program has created 5 TB Champions district groups and supported the reproduction of campaign materials, including 4,000 TB flyers, 64 banners, and campaign gear and TB IEC materials. The program has also supported the procurement and installment of a new 24 BTUs air conditioner in Nampula to support proper functioning of critical equipment. Overall, the Challenge TB program in Mozambique has made significant progress in implementing CB-DOTS and supporting the NTP Lab department on their TB Laboratory Strategic Plan. However, the program faces some technical and administrative challenges that need to be addressed to achieve its goals.