In line with the activities of the national tuberculosis control program, the project aims to significantly reduce the burden of tuberculosis among people who inject drugs in Hai Phong, Vietnam.
Context
People who inject drugs are particularly vulnerable to tuberculosis, with an active tuberculosis rate ranging from 1.7% to 5.6% in Hai Phong, Vietnam. This alarming situation results in high mortality, largely due to their limited access to healthcare and inappropriate health-seeking behaviors, often linked to stigma. It is therefore crucial to adopt a specific approach to raise awareness among these populations, improve tuberculosis screening coverage, and provide more tailored healthcare services. This project relies on a community- based approach to significantly reduce the burden of tuberculosis among people who inject drugs.
Description
This project targets adults who report injecting drugs and focuses on three objectives:
- developing information and communication tools dedicated to tuberculosis, and a specific module to raise awareness among the community of people living with HIV;
- evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of innovative community-based tuberculosis screening strategies, such as mass community screening through biannual surveys and contact tracing of people living with HIV following a tuberculosis case in any of these;
- studying the effectiveness of a community system model for referral to existing health centers and support for care by community organizations.
Impact
The project has been designed to be replicable in low- and middle- income countries. Its aim is to contribute to the empowerment and capacity-building of community-based TB organizations, and to provide the national program with complementary solutions and new community partners for the control of TB among people living with HIV. It is an important step towards the zero-TB goal.
