Publications

The communities, rights, and gender (CRG) assessment carried out in Armenia within the Program “Advancing People-Centered Quality TB Care – From the New Model of Care Towards Improving DR-TB Early Detection and Treatment Outcomes” (TB-REP 2.0), financed by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and implemented by the Center for Health Policies and Studies (PAS Center) as the principal recipient.

The communities, rights, and gender (CRG) regional brief was developed as part of the multi-country program “Advancing People-Centered Quality TB Care - From the New Model of Care Towards Improving DR-TB Early Detection and Treatment Outcomes” (TB-REP 2.0), financed by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and implemented by the Center for Health Policies and Studies (PAS Center) as the principal recipient. 

The “Assessment of barriers related to the legal environment, gender, stigma and human rights for key populations in the response to tuberculosis in Almaty city and Almaty Oblast" was conducted by the Association of Legal Entities "Kazakhstan Union of People Living with HIV" within the framework of multi-country program "Advancing People-Centered Quality TB Care - From the New Model of Care Towards Improving DR-TB Early Detection and Treatment Outcomes" (TB-REP 2.0), using the TB Community, Rights and Gender (CRG) tools developed by Stop TB Partnership.

The “Assessment of CRG barriers for TB high-risk groups in Georgia" was conducted by the Union “New Vector” within the framework of multi-country program "Advancing People-Centered Quality TB Care - From the New Model of Care Towards Improving DR-TB Early Detection and Treatment Outcomes" (TB-REP 2.0), using the TB Community, Rights and Gender (CRG) tools developed by Stop TB Partnership.

PAS Center team has developed a rapid risk assessment and contingency planning tool to maintain TB and HIV programs operational during COVID-19 pandemic response. It may be used not only for the purpose of Global Fund grants, but also for assessing effects on the full continuum of services and the health system functions that support service delivery. It also allows to plan possible mitigation measures, list changes in service delivery modalities, estimate additional resources and source of funding.

The brochure presents the achievements of civil society organizations in introducing human-centred treatment models for tuberculosis in 11 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The publication describes best practices implemented under the 3-year TB REP project. These success stories of the countries participating in the project will enable civil society actors to emulate the successful experiences of their peers in their work.

TB-REP is a multipartner project covering 11 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan (2016-2018). It aims to prevent TB and drug-resistant TB, and to improve TB treatment outcomes by increasing political commitment and accelerating adoption of people-centred models of care.

Center PAS has produced a series of short papers to provide a brief overview of the project design, components, deliverables and progress, as well as a few country cases. Please see below the case for Belarus.

Center PAS has produced a series of short papers to provide a brief overview of the project design, components, deliverables and progress, as well as a few country cases. Please see below the case for Armenia.

Center PAS has produced a series of short papers to provide a brief overview of the project design, components, deliverables and progress, as well as a few country cases. Please see below the case for Kazakhstan.

Center PAS has produced a series of short papers to provide a brief overview of the project design, components, deliverables and progress, as well as a few country cases. Please see below the case for Moldova.

TB-REP countries are currently taking efforts in introducing people-centered model of care. In order to assess legal-normative acts regulating different aspects of TB care within each country, a Regulatory Framework Assessment (RFA) tool has been developed within TB-REP.  The RFA tool is designed to be used by national stakeholders from TB-REP countries for conducting a comprehensive analysis of their respective national legislation and regulations and identify the level of congruence with the principles of the people-centred model of TB care.

TB-REP countries are currently taking efforts in introducing people-centered model of care. One of the main components for transitioning to the people-centered model of care is to ensure adequate workforce involved in TB care delivery. To help National Programmes to ensure health workers requirements are met at service delivery level, a simple tool has been developed to get overview of baseline staffing needs. The purpose of the “Health Workforce Baseline Assessment Tool: Overview of Baseline staff establishment and requirement in National TB Programmes” (the Tool) is to identify what is available in terms of health workers at service delivery level and baseline against current requirements to deliver quality services as part of National TB programmes. The objective of the tool is to get a quick baseline overview of staffing implications based on TB epidemiological data as well other pulmonology disease patients’ numbers and visits.

In the context of  the UN HLM information package development, a guiding paper for CSOs in EECA region was developed through TB-REP civil society involvement. It is aligned with the major key asks of the TB global community developed to guide preparation processes  for UN HLM on TB and linked with the specifics of the TB reforms within the general healthcare agenda in the TB-REP EECA countries.  

The paper is aimed to be helpful for the civil society partners in the EECA countries for meetings and briefings with the National delegations for UN HLM on TB, as well as laying the background for the in-country actions and directions on post-HLM advocacy and accountability.

This document was developed within the project «Together in Tuberculosis Control», run by the Moldova National Association of Tuberculosis Patients ”SMIT” (Society of Moldova against TB), with the support of the Center for Health Policies and Studies from the sources allocated by the Global Fund to Fight HIV / AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, through the EECA regional program (TB-REP).

Although the Republic of Moldova faces serious challenges related to both TB and especially drug-resistant TB burden, having one of the highest rates of MDR-TB in the WHO European Region, it has also made signifi cant strides in reducing TB incidence and improving access to diagnostics and DR-TB treatment. In recent years, it has even piloted fully ambulatory MDR-TB treatment and strengthened peer and community-based support. Th ere is still much to be done, but there are many promising collaborations and projects which show that Moldova is not only taking the problem of TB seriously, but is open to innovative, patient-centred approaches. 

National TB Program in Georgia is implemented by multiple partners including the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MOLHSA), the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDCPH), the National Centre for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NCTBLD), and the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Advice (MCLA). TB services are delivered by specialized outpatient and in-patient clinics. There are 69 TB service points staffed by a TB specialist and a nurse in each district of Georgia. In 2011 a vast majority of TB dispansaries in regions were integrated into public and private general hospitals. However, in Tbilisi, outpatient TB care is being provided by a network of TB dispensaries and a number of DOT spots at primary care facilities. 

Azerbaijan is one of the 30 countries identified by the WHO with the highest burden of MDR-TB. The country located in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region which is home to the world’s fastest growing drug-resistant TB epidemic. The key populations for TB include; prisoners, who have 20 times the national incidence at 1,270/100,000, people living with HIV, injecting-drug users, migrant workers and poor people living in rural areas.

The Tuberculosis Regional Eastern European and Central Asian Project (TB-REP) on strengthening health systems for effective tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant TB prevention and care is a three- year project that began in 2016. It is funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and implemented by the Center for Health Policies and Studies of the Republic of Moldova as the principal recipient and the WHO Regional Office for Europe as the technical lead agency, in collaboration with partners, namely TB Europe Coalition (through Alliance for Public Health Ukraine), Stop TB Partnership, and technical expertise of London School of Economics and Political Science, European Respiratory Society London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The project support 11 countries of eastern European and central Asian in addressing outdate models of TB care in order to tackle the high burden of TB and MDR-TB. The project assists countries in implementing effective and efficient TB service delivery systems with sustainable financing.

This newsletter summarizes project key activities and achievements during June-December 2017.

A key deliverable of the TB-REP project, the People-Centered Model of TB Care: Blueprint for EECA Countries is now available and is formally launched to representatives of 11 TB REP countries in Chisinau, Moldova today, June 30. 

Its goal is to shift care closer to people and communities.  This entails moving towards ambulatory treatment and care, strengthening services involving primary care, and better integrating care across various providers, levels and settings within health systems.

We would like to thank all TB-REP partners, the Writing Committee and the Members of the TB-REP Scientific Working Group for their contributions. This has the potential to be a game changer in improving TB response in OUR region and if implemented, will have an impact on the epidemic and improve the lives of people affected by TB.