USAID Tuberculosis South Africa Project – Quarterly Report 1 October -2018 – December 2018

The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Contract Number AID-OAA-I-14-00035 and Order Number AID-674-TO-16-00002. The project's primary objective is to reduce TB infections and improve the sustainability of effective TB response systems. To achieve this, the project focuses on three intermediate results (IRs): TB infections reduced, sustainability of effective TB response systems increased, and care and treatment of vulnerable populations improved. IR1: TB Infections Reduced The project aims to reduce TB infections through increased public awareness of the TB epidemic, effective implementation of infection prevention and control, and improved TB screening among key populations. Public awareness campaigns were conducted, resulting in the distribution of 1,500,000 IEC materials, as shown in Table 1. The FAST performance improved from 80% in April 2017 to 95% in December 2018, as indicated in Table 2. Urinary lipoarabinomannan results in HIV patients in Limpopo showed a significant decrease from 10.5% in October to 2.5% in December 2018, as shown in Table 3. IR2: Sustainability of Effective TB Response Systems Increased The project aims to increase the sustainability of effective TB response systems through strengthened management capacity, strengthened service delivery capacity, and improved data reporting and recording. Capacity building workshops were conducted for managers, resulting in a 90% increase in capacity building for managers, as shown in Table 4. Mentorship support using Low-Dose High-Frequency (LDHF) was provided to 500 healthcare workers, as shown in Table 6. IR3: Care and Treatment of Vulnerable Populations Improved The project aims to improve the care and treatment of vulnerable populations through increased contact tracing of key populations, improved TB case management among key populations, and strengthened comprehensive systems and partnerships for care. Adult contact management was conducted by funded grantees, resulting in a 25% increase in adult contact management, as shown in Table 15. The project also focuses on finding missing TB patients and improving data reporting and recording. A cascade analysis towards the 90-90-90 Targets in the district was conducted, as shown in Table 7. The Electronic Tuberculosis Register (ETR) reports by supported district showed a 20% increase in ETR reports, as shown in Table 8. Financial management is also an essential aspect of the project. The project's financial report for the quarter is provided in Annex IV. The project's budget for the quarter was $1,500,000, with $1,200,000 spent on program activities and $300,000 spent on administrative costs. Overall, the USAID Tuberculosis South Africa Project is making significant progress in reducing TB infections, improving the sustainability of effective TB response systems, and improving the care and treatment of vulnerable populations.