CDC has developed multiple resources for helping countries to assess and improve TBIC practices in health facilities. In this program CDC awarded a research grant that required CCCRN to conduct a pilot implementation of this package at inpatient and outpatient facilities in seven CCCRN supported health care facilities in Enugu, Ebonyi and Abia States across two levels of health facility in Nigeria. Given the high burden of TB, risk of transmission of TB to healthcare workers and patients – especially those with HIV, and the concern for MDR TB, improving TBIC measures is key to reducing morbidity and mortality in these settings. The information gained from this study was used to provide Ministry of Health (MOH) valuable insights as to the strengths and weaknesses of their current TBIC program and areas for potential improvement within health facilities in Nigeria. The primary intent of this evaluation is TBIC program improvement. The long term intent is to decrease and eventually eliminate TB transmission within health care facilities.
- To rapidly assess key TBIC measures in the selected facilities.
- To identify programmatic areas for potential strengthening, using tools for developing an intervention plan and monitoring programmatic activities, training materials, and visual aids.
- To support local and state public health officials and facility staff in developing the expertise needed to strengthen, scale-up and conduct ongoing monitoring of TBIC practices in local health facilities.
- To evaluate TBIC practices after the intervention to determine if there are any changes and/or improvements in comparison with the baseline assessment.
- To assess healthcare worker knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding TBIC, before and after implementation of the interventions and then annually thereafter.
- To identify challenges to and strategies for implementation of TBIC measures and describe lessons learned.
At the end of the implementation years there was institution of improved TBIC practices in all facilities of implementation with significant improvement in all the indices assessed. (Link to dash board Possible). Lessons learnt are presently been replicated across other supported sites, as dissemination to state government and other stakeholders have been completed.