Cash transfers to enhance TB control: lessons from the HIV response

Social protection as a right of people affected by tuberculosis: a scoping review and conceptual framework

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease strongly influenced by social determinants closely associated with cycles of poverty and social exclusion. Within this context, providing social protection for people affected by the disease constitutes a powerful instrument for reducing inequalities and enhancing inclusion and social justice. This study aimed to identify and synthesize strategies and measures aimed at ensuring social protection as a right of people affected by tuberculosis.

METHODS

This is a scoping review, with searches conducted in six databases in February 2023. We included publications from 2015 onwards that elucidate strategies and measures of social protection aimed at safeguarding the rights to health, nutrition, employment, income, housing, social assistance, and social security for people affected by tuberculosis. These strategies could be implemented through policies, programs, and/or governmental agreements in any given context. The data extracted from the articles underwent descriptive analysis and a narrative synthesis of findings based on the dimensions of social protection. Additionally, we developed a conceptual framework illustrating the organizational and operational aspects of measures and strategies related to each dimension of social protection identified in this review.

RESULTS

A total of 9317 publications were retrieved from the databases, of which sixty-three publications were included. The study's results highlighted measures and strategies concerning the social protection of people affected by tuberculosis. These measures and strategies revolved around the rights to proper nutrition and nourishment, income, housing, and health insurance, as well as expanded rights encompassing social assistance and social welfare. It was reported that ensuring these rights contributes to improving nutritional status and the quality of life for individuals with tuberculosis, along with reducing catastrophic costs, expanding access to healthcare interventions and services, and fostering TB treatment adherence, thereby leading to higher rates of TB cure.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings identify social protection measures as a right for people affected by tuberculosis and have the potential to guide the development of evidence-based social and health policies through collaboration between tuberculosis control programs and governmental entities.

"I'm suffering for food": Food insecurity and access to social protection for TB patients and their households in Cape Town, South Africa

BACKGROUND

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major health concern and the number one cause of death in South Africa. Social protection programmes can strengthen the resilience of TB patients, their families and households. This study aimed to get a better understanding of the role of social protection and other forms of support in relation to the burden of TB on patients and their households in South Africa.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study using a phenomenological approach to focus on the lived experiences and perceptions of TB patients and healthcare workers. We interviewed 16 patients and six healthcare workers and analysed data thematically.

RESULTS

The challenges faced by participants were closely related to household challenges. Participants reported a heavy physical burden, aggravated by a lack of nutritious food and that households could not provide the food they needed. Some needed to resort to charity. At the same time, households were significantly affected by the burden of caring for the patient-and remained the main source of financial, emotional and physical support. Participants reported challenges and costs associated with the application process and high levels of discretion by the assessing doctor allowing doctors' opinions and beliefs to influence their assessment.

CONCLUSION

Access to adequate nutritious food was a key issue for many patients and this need strained already stretched households and budgets. Few participants reported obtaining state social protection support during their illness, but many reported challenges and high costs of trying to access it. Further research should be conducted on support mechanisms and interventions for TB patients, but also their households, including food support, social protection and contact tracing. In deciding eligibility for grants, the situation of the household should be considered in addition to the individual patient.

Evaluating the impact of social determinants, conditional cash transfers and primary health care on HIV/AIDS: Study protocol of a retrospective and forecasting approach based on the data integration with a cohort of 100 million Brazilians

BACKGROUND

Despite the great progress made over the last decades, stronger structural interventions are needed to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). Brazil is one of the largest and data-richest LMIC, with rapidly changing socioeconomic characteristics and an important HIV/AIDS burden. Over the last two decades Brazil has also implemented the world's largest Conditional Cash Transfer programs, the Bolsa Familia Program (BFP), and one of the most consolidated Primary Health Care (PHC) interventions, the Family Health Strategy (FHS).

OBJECTIVE

We will evaluate the effects of socioeconomic determinants, BFP exposure and FHS coverage on HIV/AIDS incidence, treatment adherence, hospitalizations, case fatality, and mortality using unprecedently large aggregate and individual-level longitudinal data. Moreover, we will integrate the retrospective datasets and estimated parameters with comprehensive forecasting models to project HIV/AIDS incidence, prevalence and mortality scenarios up to 2030 according to future socioeconomic conditions and alternative policy implementations.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will combine individual-level data from all national HIV/AIDS registries with large-scale databases, including the "100 Million Brazilian Cohort", over a 19-year period (2000-2018). Several approaches will be used for the retrospective quasi-experimental impact evaluations, such as Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD), Random Administrative Delays (RAD) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM), combined with multivariable Poisson regressions for cohort analyses. Moreover, we will explore in depth lagged and long-term effects of changes in living conditions and in exposures to BFP and FHS. We will also investigate the effects of the interventions in a wide range of subpopulations. Finally, we will integrate such retrospective analyses with microsimulation, compartmental and agent-based models to forecast future HIV/AIDS scenarios.

CONCLUSION

The unprecedented datasets, analyzed through state-of-the-art quasi-experimental methods and innovative mathematical models will provide essential evidences to the understanding and control of HIV/AIDS epidemic in LMICs such as Brazil.

Incidence Rates for Tuberculosis Among HIV Infected Patients in Northern Tanzania

Background: HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are leading infectious diseases, with a high risk of co-infection. The risk of TB in people living with HIV (PLHIV) is high soon after sero-conversion and increases as the CD4 counts are depleted.

Methodology: We used routinely collected data from Care and Treatment Clinics (CTCs) in three regions in northern Tanzania. All PLHIV attending CTCs between January 2012 to December 2017 were included in the analysis. TB incidence was defined as cases started on anti-TB medications divided by the person-years of follow-up. Poisson regression with frailty models were used to determine incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for predictors of TB incidences among HIV positive patients.

Results: Among 78,748 PLHIV, 405 patients developed TB over 195,296 person-years of follow-up, giving an overall TB incidence rate of 2.08 per 1,000 person-years. There was an increased risk of TB incidence, 3.35 per 1,000 person-years, in hospitals compared to lower level health facilities. Compared to CD4 counts of <350 cells/μl, a high CD4 count was associated with lower TB incidence, 81% lower for a CD4 count of 350–500 cells/μl (IRR 0.19, 95% CI 0.04–0.08) and 85% lower for those with a CD4 count above 500 cells/μl (IRR 0.15, 95% CI 0.04–0.64). Independently, those taking ART had 66% lower TB incidences (IRR 0.34, 95% CI 0.15–0.79) compared to those not taking ART. Poor nutritional status and CTC enrollment between 2008 and 2012 were associated with higher TB incidences IRR 9.27 (95% CI 2.15–39.95) and IRR 2.97 (95% CI 1.05–8.43), respectively.

Discussion: There has been a decline in TB incidence since 2012, with exception of the year 2017 whereby there was higher TB incidence probably due to better diagnosis of TB following a national initiative. Among HIV positive patients attending CTCs, poor nutritional status, low CD4 counts and not taking ART treatment were associated with higher TB incidence, highlighting the need to get PLHIV on treatment early, and the need for close monitoring of CD4 counts. Data from routinely collected and available health services can be used to provide evidence of the epidemiological risk of TB.

Quality of TB care among people living with HIV: Gaps and solutions

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious cause of death among people living with HIV, causing one third of AIDS-related deaths globally. The concerning number of missing TB cases, ongoing high TB mortality, slow reduction in TB incidence, and limited uptake of TB preventive treatment among people living with HIV, all indicate the urgent need to improve quality of TB services within HIV programs. In this mini-review we discuss major gaps in quality of TB care that impede achieving prevention and treatment targets within the TB-HIV care cascades, show approaches of assessing gaps in TB service provision, and describe outcomes from innovative quality improvement projects among HIV and TB programs. We also offer recommendations for measuring quality of TB care.