Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Strengthen TB Infection Control: A Rapid Review

Abstract

Current challenges in TB control efforts, such as an unprepared public health system leadership and infrastructure and an overwhelmed health care workforce, will require novel approaches, practices, and renewed political commitment to maintain sustainable TB programs.We described proposed recommendations that may strengthen health system preparedness for optimal TB control across low-and middle-income countries: n Ensuring leadership and governance for sustainable national health care budgets n Building networks of community stakeholders n Supporting high-quality health care workforce training and safe workplace environments n Using digital health interventions for TB care Key Implications n National health systems should develop national policies that promote integral, patient-centered TB care, facilitate the implementation of ethical community interventions, support operational research, and allow the integration of appropriate eHealth applications. n Program managers who understand challenges in TB prevention and control with coexisting health priorities can serve as instrumental leaders and patient advocates to deliver high-quality and sustainable TB care that leads to achieving targets of the End TB Strategy.

World Tuberculosis Day 2022: aligning COVID-19 and tuberculosis innovations to save lives and to end tuberculosis

“…1 Furthermore, COVID-19 disruptions to health services have impeded diagnosing and treating everyone with active tuberculosis, drugresistant tuberculosis, multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, latent tuberculosis, and tuberculosis and HIV co-infection, as well as access to tuberculosis medicines, counselling and follow-up, and lowered treatment adherence. 1,[3][4][5][6][7] This impedance in turn promotes the development of multidrug-resistant strains of tuberculosis and increases treatment failure rates, suffering, and death. Thus, in the foreseeable future, tuberculosis will continue to pose multiple challenges and negatively impact on already fragile health systems in countries with a high burden of tuberculosis.…”

“…Over the past 2 years, several promising new developments in approaches to screening, diagnosis, and management for both tuberculosis and COVID-19, if skilfully used, aligned, and synergised, could overcome the negative effects of COVID-19 disruptions in health services for airborne infectious diseases. Several lessons learnt from COVID-19 responses, including innovative new ways of health services working, 3,[5][6][7] also provide a fresh approach to management of respiratory infectious diseases with overlapping clinical symptoms and signs. Several practical steps, using recently updated diagnostics, treatments, patient follow-up, and community care guidelines for both COVID-19 and tuberculosis, [6][7][8][9][10] if immediately taken forward, could have a synergistic, enhancing, and multiplier effect.…”

“…Several lessons learnt from COVID-19 responses, including innovative new ways of health services working, 3,[5][6][7] also provide a fresh approach to management of respiratory infectious diseases with overlapping clinical symptoms and signs. Several practical steps, using recently updated diagnostics, treatments, patient follow-up, and community care guidelines for both COVID-19 and tuberculosis, [6][7][8][9][10] if immediately taken forward, could have a synergistic, enhancing, and multiplier effect. Thus, COVID-19 programme innovations and adaptations from within the COVID-19 response should be built upon, to enhance access to integrated, patient-centred tuberculosis services (figure).…”

“…Thus, COVID-19 programme innovations and adaptations from within the COVID-19 response should be built upon, to enhance access to integrated, patient-centred tuberculosis services (figure). 3,[5][6][7] The ongoing COVID-19 mass testing and vaccination rollout in wealthy nations are the result of unprecedented financial investments, rapid research and development, collaborative science, and innovation in delivery systems. Diseases that affect wealthier nations receive immediate attention and the required funding is made available quickly.…”

Interventions pathways to reduce tuberculosis-related stigma: a literature review and conceptual framework

“…. This challenge has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic which has restricted access to healthcare, reduced the number of people notified with TB, and been associated with an increase in TB mortality [1,4,5]. TBstigma has also been shown to reduce treatment compliance, and negatively impact on TB treatment outcomes [6,7].…”