The project, currently in an initial phase, will conduct active case finding among the tribal communities in Narainpur and Kondagoan districts, Chhattisgarh State, where an ongoing conflict makes health services difficult to access for the majority tribal population living in the densely forested area.
Working in collaboration with two local community-based organisations, project teams will train health workers in TB prevention, diagnosis and care. Volunteers will assist remote communities in accessing health services by transporting sputum samples to diagnostic facilities and supporting patients in treatment adherence. Volunteers will also screen and identify children with severe acute malnutrition and link them to India’s nutritional rehabilitation centres.
The project will run until January 2020 and is funded under a TB REACH grant through the Stop TB Partnership.