Strengthening Tuberculosis Control in Ukraine: Year 4 Quarter 2

The project is implemented by Chemonics International in partnership with Project HOPE and the Global Tuberculosis Institute (GTBI) at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Key accomplishments in the second quarter of Year 4 (January 1, 2016 - March 31, 2016) include the development of the National TB Program concept for 2017-2021 through participation in four Ministry of Health (MOH) working groups. Representatives of local authorities and key stakeholders in Kirovograd and Lviv regions agreed on a set of activities to improve TB infection control (IC) and services to TB and TB/HIV patients as a result of high-level policy advocacy meetings organized by the project. The project launched the Training and Information Resource Centre (TIRC), a specialized online platform on tuberculosis for professionals and the general public. One hundred twenty-nine participants received up-to-date information on TB case detection, diagnostics, and management at two trainings held in the Dnipropetrovsk Center of Excellence. Nurses and primary health care practitioners participated in five shortened courses on TB case detection and treatment in Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovograd, and Zaporizhzhia. The project also organized a range of activities to commemorate World TB Day, including delivering 200 Red Arrow pins from the STOP-TB partnership to partners, publishing 35,000 booklets and 1,000 posters on TB symptoms for visitors of health facilities, developing a video success story on piloting outpatient TB treatment in Kryvyy Rih, and posting a blog. All six Advocacy, Communications, and Social Mobilization (ACSM) grants began their activities, and a new round of ACSM grants was announced within the reporting period, for which a total of 17 grant applications were received. During the second grant year, 376 new TB patients were enrolled into the support program, and 497 TB patients received the patronage of Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) nurses. The project finalized recruitment of TB patients for the pilot outpatient model in Kriviy Rih and presented preliminary results of the pilot program to the local Health Administration and medical professionals of Kriviy Rih City at the local Coordinating Council meeting. The project also conducted retrospective evaluations of the efficiency of Odesa oblast TB hospitals using World Health Organization (WHO) protocol and presented findings to Odessa oblast health authorities, where the data will be used to reform health activities at oblast level. Up-to-date project information on project-supported seminars was provided to 205 heads of primary health care facilities in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, which will be used to improve the quality of TB and TB/HIV prevention, detection, and treatment services. In addition, 719 health care workers received on-the-job technical assistance related to TB diagnostics, treatment, and case management; TB IC practices; and the coordination of TB/HIV services during 44 mentoring visits. The project's TB IC specialist contributed suggestions to the working group of the MOH of Ukraine that were included in the National program concept and actively shared information on IC and communicated with a broad audience through Facebook, telephone consultations, and participation in TV programs. The project's TB IC specialist also co-authored an article titled "Prevention and Infection Control" that was published in The Health Affairs journal, detailing experiences with infection control program implementation in healthcare facilities of Ukraine and Tajikistan. The specialist conducted four mentoring visits covering seven healthcare facilities, during which 157 healthcare professionals were trained. The specialist, together with the National Expert Group on Infection Control (NEGIC), conducted a mentoring visit to Lviv regional TB and pulmonology center, providing technical assistance in designing the ventilation system in the bacterial laboratory and intensive care unit, developing standard operating procedures for effective use of UV meters in the facility, assessing the existing SOPs on infection control implementation, and providing recommendations. The project's TB IC specialist facilitated two trainings in environmental infection control for engineers in Kyiv, organized by the Ukrainian Center for Socially Dangerous Diseases Control (UCDC).