⚠️ Flooding in Mozambique is disrupting transport and access to care. For people with TB, treatment interruptions raise serious risks. Our team is on the ground keeping TB services running. Every dose, every patient counts. #TBcare #FloodResponse #Mozambique

Shesha, a WhatsApp Chatbot for Linking Household Contacts to Tuberculosis Treatment or Preventive Therapy in South Africa: Design and Development Background: Literature on the development of mHealth tools for public health interventions is scarce. This scarcity creates a knowledge gap, and new tools may repeat the mistakes of past implementations. Objective: In this paper, we describe how we developed Shesha, a WhatsApp-based chatbot designed to facilitate linkage-to-care for household contacts of TB patients. Shesha facilitates linkage by providing TB test results, TB and preventive therapy information, nudges, reminders, and personalised support to promote linkage to care. We developed the Shesha to address the human resource capacity challenges posed by South Africa’s new universal TB testing and tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) policies. Methods: We applied a design thinking framework with seven phases: empathise, discover, define, prototype, build and launch, improve, and evaluate. The process started with gathering insights from TB contact tracing studies and consulting with global and local experts to address the challenges of universal TB testing and TPT. Based on these findings, we defined the core functionalities of Shesha and incorporated the Health Belief Model (HBM) to encourage health-seeking behaviour. In collaboration with the developers, we developed the WhatsApp-based chatbot. We selected WhatsApp for its wide accessibility and user-friendliness. Results: We successfully developed and launched the Shesha in September 2023, with implementation expected to continue until March 2025. Early user acceptance revealed that users generally valued the information provided on the tool regarding TB and TPT; however, they required ongoing engagement to link to care. Ongoing evaluations, guided by the RE-AIM framework, will assess the tool’s impact on reducing community health worker workloads and improving linkage-to-care. Conclusions: Documenting the development of mHealth technologies is crucial for guiding future projects and improving health interventions. In our study, frameworks like design thinking and the health belief model aligned the Shesha with user needs and programmatic goals. Comprehensive documentation may help assess the chatbot’s performance and guide future improvements, supporting scalability and efficiency in mHealth interventions across public health settings.

JMIR Formative Res: Shesha, a WhatsApp Chatbot for Linking Household Contacts to Tuberculosis Treatment or Preventive Therapy in South Africa: Design and Development #TBcare #mHealth #digitalhealth #WhatsAppChatbot #publichealth

World Lung Cancer Day 2025: A reminder of TB and Lung Health Since 2012, World Lung Cancer Day is observed every year on August 1 to raise awareness about lung cancer. The World Lung Cancer Day observance commenced with the hope of creating awareness about lung...

Today #WorldLungCancerDay: TB and lung cancer share symptoms, face delays, stigma, and inequities in care
➡️Vital to integrate lung health services
➡️Invest in early diagnosis
➡️Advocate for improved access and awareness for all

🫁every breath counts!
www.tbppm.org/news/2749229

#TBcare #LungHealth

"Operational mechanisms engaging private providers increase TB prevention and care in Pakistan: The private sector is the preferred choice for over 90% of people accessing TB care. Offering patient-centered TB care services at the primary care level, Pakistan has engaged individual general practitioner practices and specialists in their PPM models for decades. In 2023, over 13,000 private healthcare providers, 500 hospitals, and 700 laboratories across 120 districts nationwide were involved, with private providers contributing more than 40% of the total country’s TB case notifications. The PPM models have improved access to WHO-recommended rapid diagnostics (WRDs) through outreach camps and a robust specimen transportation system involving over 600 community volunteer riders." Read more: - https://resources.theglobalfund.org/media/tslodd32/cr_private-sector-engagement-tb-care_report_en.pdf - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405579424000937

🚨 Join us July 15 at 8:00 AM EST for a webinar on Programmatic Efficiency: Private Sector Engagement in TB Care

📢 Learn how @mercycorps.bsky.social Pakistan is using effective sample transportation to scale impact #EndTB

🔗 Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#TBcare #PrivateSectorInTBcare

🎥 "TB is just one reason to pick up the probe."
Dr. Bruno Vargas shares insight on lung ultrasound, POCUS potential, and why the future is bright for global diagnostics.

📺 Watch the webinar replay: vimeo.com/1094857740
📢 More coming soon, stay tuned!
#POCUS #TBcare #GUSI #GUSIPOCUS #tuberculosis

Meet the unsung heroes of #TBcare! 🏥🧡 Treatment supporters in #Lesotho go above and beyond to ensure patients complete life-saving treatment. Their dedication makes a real difference in the fight against TB. 🌍💊

👉 Read more: pihcanada.org/news/need-kn...

#HealthForAll #EndTB #GlobalHealth

DID YOU KNOW? People with a history of #TB face a higher risk of reinfection due to factors like incomplete treatment or weak immunity. This underscores the need for routine monitoring in strengthening retention on treatment and strong post-TB care. #EndTB #TBcare

Introducing TBPPM: A Dynamic Community for Transformative TB Care! 🌍
TBPPM is a global initiative fostering South-South learning, public-private partnerships, and innovations to enhance quality TB care.
🔗 Join the movement & explore our work: www.tbppm.org/page/welcome
#TBPPM #TBcare #Innovation

Modelling the epidemiological and economic impact of digital adherence technologies with differentiated care for tuberculosis treatment in Ethiopia - PubMed DAT interventions, while showing limited epidemiological impact, could substantially reduce TB treatment costs for both patients and the healthcare provider.

A recent study shows that although digital adherence technologies #DATs' impact on #TB cases and death reduction is limited, it can significantly cut #TBTreatment costs. #TBcare #HealthcareInnovation

Read more here👇
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39653521/
#IDSky #ID #TBSky #DigitalHealth