WHO Global Task Force on TB Impact Measurement

Progress update - No.1 (August 2009)

Welcome to the first bi-annual progress update from the Task Force with all the latest information on the work of its secretariat, its activities and impact on monitoring and evaluation of tuberculosis.

If you need any further information or have any comments on the work of the Task Force, please e-mail: tbimpactmeasurement@who.int.

Mandate

• to produce a robust, rigorous and widely-endorsed assessment of whether the 2015 targets for reductions in TB incidence, prevalence and mortality are achieved at global level, for each WHO Region and in individual countries
• to regularly report on progress towards these targets in the years leading up to 2015
• to strengthen national capacity in monitoring and evaluation of TB control

The task force is coordinated and hosted by the WHO Stop TB Department.

What's new

• August 2009: the Task Force launches its web site. This will be updated regularly with information on important meetings, workshops and conferences. It will also be an invaluable resource for materials on TB impact measurement.
  
  
• June 2009: launch of the Myanmar TB prevalence survey.
  
  
• June 2009: the Task Force secretariat briefed the Ethiopia team about the development of protocols for a TB disease prevalence survey.
  
  
• July 2009: a regional workshop for nine South East Asian countries in Bangalore on improving estimation of TB incidence via systematic assessment of surveillance data was successfully completed. The nine countries taking part were Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

Coming up

• Publication of the policy paper on TB impact measurement (September 2009)
• Regional workshop on improving estimation of TB incidence via systematic assessment of surveillance data in fourteen Latin American countries, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2-4 September)
• Country missions to Tanzania and Viet Nam (September 2009)

• Regional workshop for 22 Eastern Mediterranean countries in Cairo, Egypt (28-30 October)
• Second meeting of TB estimates sub-group in Geneva, Switzerland (7-8 October)
• Session on TB Impact Measurement in the DOTS Expansion Working Group meeting in Geneva, Switzerland (14 October)
• Workshop for African countries conducting TB prevalence survey in 2009/2010 (15-16 October)

• Symposium on "Measuring TB burden and assessing impact of control " at The Union conference in Cancun, Mexico (3-7 December)

Strategic milestones completed

Strengthening routine surveillance

• Developed conceptual framework for improving estimation of TB incidence via systematic assessment of surveillance data, linked to recommendations for improving surveillance of TB notifications and deaths and potential certification/accreditation that notification data are a close proxy for incidence.
• Application of framework via regional workshop for 21 European countries
• Application of framework via regional workshop for nine South-East Asian countries

TB disease prevalence surveys

• Guidelines for design and implementation of surveys developed
• Series of six papers related to the guidelines for design and implementation of surveys, published in International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
• Two workshops to support development of survey protocols in 10 global focus countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda and Zambia), and related follow-up
• Identification of technical agencies to support survey design and implementation in global focus countries due to implement surveys
• Expert meeting to review protocols for six countries and provide recommendations on aspects of survey design, implementation and analysis not fully addressed in 2007 guidelines
• Country missions to Cambodia, Malawi, Myanmar and Uganda
• Workshop to develop protocol for prevalence survey, Ethiopia

Review and revision of methods for the production of TB epidemiological estimates

• Initiated review of major assumptions/parameters linked to Global Burden of Disease project
• Workshop on capture-recapture studies for five Eastern Mediterranean countries (Djibouti, Egypt, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen)
• Revised TB/HIV and MDR-TB estimates based on updated methods and additional data

Global milestones completed

• Establishment of Global Task Force on Impact Measurement
• Three meetings of Task Force held
• Lancet review article published on methods for measuring TB incidence, prevalence and mortality
• Policy paper building on Lancet review, with policies and recommendations for measuring TB incidence, prevalence and mortality up to 2015, endorsed by Task Force
• Presentation of the Task Force’s work to the All Party Parliamentary Group on TB in UK
• Establishment of close collaboration with The Global Fund via the creation of a joint TB impact measurement team

Our partners (engaged in at least one of three strategic work areas)

Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), The Global Fund, Harvard University, Health Protection Agency, KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, national governments of endemic countries, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Research Institute for TB (RIT/JATA), The International Union against TB and Lung Disease (The Union), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), WHO- HQ, Regional and Country offices