NEWS ALERT - 27 June 2024 | GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
The Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative is thrilled to announce the results of its Wave 11 funding. After receiving almost 600 applications, 28 innovative projects from 15 countries have been selected by the independent Proposal Review Committee with a total funding envelope of USD 15.1 million. Wave 11 is generously supported by Global Affairs Canada and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and will fund innovative approaches to integrate TB service delivery with lung health at the primary and community level.
Innovation
TB REACH remains the global funding mechanism which is best positioned to provide fast-track funding for innovative approaches that can be part of future standards of care. Wave 11 is full of great ideas including the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for cough interpretation, as well as AI for spirometry, and detecting non-TB lung diseases including lung cancer and silicosis. Other technological innovations include testing lung flutes to improve sample collection, several different tongue swab tests, and point-of-care ultrasound.
Integration
Stop TB Partnership recognizes the importance of providing integrated services to people as close as possible to where they live and work, using primary health care and community-led approaches. From tackling infections such as pneumonia to managing chronic respiratory diseases like COPD, asthma, silicosis and lung cancer, the new Wave 11 projects also include health promotion and TB prevention by addressing TB risk factors such as smoking cessation and undernutrition, and the management of associated mental health disorders. In addition, TB REACH partners will facilitate the management of cardiovascular diseases, viral hepatitis, and sickle cell disease that complicate TB treatment and negatively impact treatment outcomes. For the first time ever, TB REACH is supporting several interventions to provide care for post-TB lung disease (PTLD), affecting many TB survivors and which has long been overlooked.
As part of Stop TB Partnership’s commitment to gender equity, TB REACH Wave 11 projects will be working on gender-responsive interventions with a keen eye on the impact of integrated service delivery models on health system strengthening (HSS). In addition, all grantees will be working to empower and support women within their organizations through their TB programming.
These groundbreaking initiatives will focus on miners and stone cutters at risk for lung conditions, tribal and internally displaced populations, children, transgender individuals, and remote, hard-to-reach communities. They aim to ensure that even the most vulnerable receive the critical care they need. Additionally, several projects will include different components of social protection to ensure that people with TB can access TB services without facing the risk of economic, social and psychological consequences to them and their households.
Wave 11 projects are set to provide evidence to strengthen the global fight against TB so that governments or donors bi-lateral or multilateral such as the Global Fund can support scaled-up impactful interventions in the years to come.
To see the successful applicants and other details- visit the TB REACH site
