System Development and Mentoring for Integration of Active Case-Finding for Tuberculosis (TB) and Isoniazid Preventive Therapy with PMTCT of HIV Services (PMTCT) in Lesotho (Johns Hopkins University)

Overview

Lesotho implements active case-finding of TB by clinical symptom screening and provision of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) based national policy and the WHO guidelines, including the use of a clinical screening tool to identify individuals at risk for active TB and providing IPT to HIV-infected persons who do not have signs and/or symptoms of active TB. This project’s goal was to conduct operations research on ACF and IPT in the antenatal clinic context by assessing the progressive roll-out of ACF among HIV-positive and HIV-negative pregnant women and measuring the uptake of IPT among women in whom active TB has been excluded. Results were presented in an oral presentation at the International TB Union meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 2012, and a manuscript was accepted for publication by the Journal of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndromes (JAIDS).