TBData4Action, an approach that advocates paying careful attention to TB data that NTPs collect, rather than simply submitting quarterly case finding and treatment outcome reports, has been integrated into select Union technical courses on TB care and prevention. NTP officials, TB coordinators and TB focal staff have been trained in how to collect and validate, and then tabulate and analyse data so they can be used to drive local solutions.
Promising initial results were reported in a pilot of this approach carried out in Zimbabwe. The findings suggest that validating, tabulating and analysing routinely available TB data at all levels of health services crucially help staff improve TB diagnosis, accessibility and quality of care.
In one district of Zimbabwe, which fully implemented this approach during a pilot phase, there was a 63 percent increase in the detection of presumptive TB, an 87 percent increase in new smear-positive TB results, and reduced deaths. The study suggests that TBData4Action training encourages staff to look at the data from a new perspective allowing them to identify what works well, as well as gaps in TB case finding and care cascades, and then set priorities and actions based on that information along with their local knowledge.
In 2018, 115 healthcare workers were trained in the TBData4Action approach in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and has garnered interest from other countries.