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Caroline Quijada, MHS, Abt Associates Inc., 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-718-3106, caroline_quijada@abtassoc.com
Issues: The problem of TB/HIV co-morbidity is increasing in Cambodia and has been identified as a priority by the MOH and donor groups. Cambodia has separate National TB and HIV/AIDS programs, but the impact of each disease on the other has highlighted the need for the programs to work together and jointly address co-morbidity. The MOH established 4 pilots to test interventions that link TB and HIV/AIDS programs to effectively manage co-infection. Substantial progress had been made in implementing pilot field-level activities. However, there remained a need for an information/surveillance system that would cross-cut all four of the pilot sites for learning, improvement as well as scale up efforts. Description: The MOH in collaboration with PHRplus, a project funded by USAID, implemented a monitoring, learning and improvement component to support the four TB/HIV pilot provinces as well as provide evidence for scale up efforts. PHRplus standardized the information collected across all four sites and facilitated its use by implementing partners in order to strengthen case detection and improve case management of TB/HIV co-morbidity. Lessons Learned: A mechanism to ensure communication across the four pilot areas is critical for sharing successes. There is a need to use data for more than just ‘informing’; rather it should be used for learning and implementation of improvements for detecting and managing TB/HIV co-morbidity. Surveillance indicators that measure co-morbidity and the interaction of clients between the two programs should be developed collaboratively and field tested to ensure effectiveness.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.