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Organization Contact Information | |
| Name: | University Research Co., LLC |
| Street 1: | 7200 Wisconsin Avenue |
| Street 2: | Suite 600 |
| City: | Bethesda |
| Province: | Maryland |
| Post Code: | 20814-4811 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Phone: | 13019418626 |
| Organization Email: | nkak@urc-chs.com |
| Web Site: | http://www.urc-chs.com |
| Other Online Presence: | |
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General Information | |
| Board Constituency: | Private sector |
| Is your organization legally registered in your country: | Yes |
| If yes, please enter your registration number: | |
| Organization Type - Primary: | Private Sector |
| Organization Type - Secondary: | Company |
| Organization Description: | |
| Company Overview University Research Co., LLC (URC) is a global company dedicated to improving the quality of health care, social services, and health education worldwide. With our non-profit affiliate, the Center for Human Services (CHS), URC manages projects in over 40 countries. Internationally, URC works in developing and middle income countries to address infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria; to improve access to and quality of maternal, newborn, and child health services; and to improve quality of primary health care services. In the United States, URC focuses on improving communication related to issues like substance abuse, with a particular focus on reaching underserved populations. Established in 1965, URC offers a range of technical assistance to strengthen health and social systems and service quality by empowering communities and health workers to identify and scale up locally appropriate solutions to critical problems. URC focuses on finding ways to deliver proven approaches to health care problems, applying quality improvement (QI) methods and conducting operations research to tailor those approaches to various settings. Recognizing implementation barriers unique to each setting, we train local managers and service providers to strengthen health systems, integrate system elements, and bring improvements to scale. URC also specializes in designing health messages and materials to educate target audiences about improving health behaviors. URC's MISSION: To provide innovative, evidence-based solutions to health and social challenges worldwide. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UniversityResearchCoLLC Twitter: @urcchs YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/URCvideos |
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| Do you know about the UNHLM declaration: | |
Specializations / Areas of Work | |
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Advocacy Technical Assistance |
Other Organization Information | |
| Total number of staff in your organization: | 100 + |
| Number of full-time staff who are directly involved with TB: | 100 + |
| Number of part-time staff who are directly involved with TB: | 100 + |
| Number of volunteers who are directly involved with TB: | 0 |
| How did you hear about the Stop TB Partnership: | Stop TB communications |
| If you were informed or referred by another partner of the Stop TB Partnership please tell us who: | |
| Why do you wish join the Stop TB Partnership: | Involvement in Stop TB Working Groups |
| Are you a member of a Stop TB national partnership: | No |
| Are you in contact with your national TB programme: | Yes |
| Please tell us how your organization is contributing to your country's national TB control plan: | |
| URC provides technical assistance to National TB Programs (NTPs) in many of the 22 countries that account for more than 80% of TB cases worldwide. Our focus is on providing integrated and innovative approaches that use QI to address systemic barriers to effective prevention and treatment, including patient-centered approaches to ensure patient retention in treatment. URC is a member of the Stop TB Partnership and supports interventions to scale up access to TB diagnostics and laboratories, improve programmatic management of drug-resistant TB, and build the capacity of health workers community groups to support adherence to TB treatment. Through the USAID-funded TB CARE II Project, URC and its partners support a number of global core studies and projects in various areas, including infection control, programmatic management of multi-drug resistant TB, and universal DOTS access. Examples of URC’s work on TB in specific countries include: Bangladesh In Bangladesh, URC collaborates directly with the National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) to reach national goals of reducing TB morbidity and mortality and increasing case detection and cure rates. Efforts are focused on community-based strategies to increase universal access to treatment, strengthening TB monitoring and evaluation, reducing the incidence of MDR-TB by supporting infection control measures and community-based treatment models, and strengthening management capacity at all levels. URC is also working to increase demand and availability of quality TB services at the local level through its nationwide local grants program. Georgia URC in Georgia facilitates the implementation of strategies to improve case detection and to strengthen and expand TB treatment through the nationwide implementation of DOTS. URC also supports modest rehabilitation of TB clinics along with proving technical assistance to newly opened private treatment sites nationwide to improve infection control and patient morale. Malawi In Malawi, URC through the TB CARE II project is working at the national level to strengthen the laboratory network, strengthen the NTP centrally, and pilot novel diagnostics. At the district level, the project is implementing a comprehensive set of interventions, including integration of antiretroviral therapy into the TB program, training community health workers in TB/HIV intervention, expanding the smear microscopy network, and upgrading infrastructure in selected facilities to accommodate increased HIV testing and counseling and ART for TB patients. South Africa URC in South Africa focuses on providing assistance to strengthen TB care initiatives at the provincial, district, and community level, as well as strengthening the health system to manage the pressures exerted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Notable achievements include working with facility and community partners to expand the use of global information systems and other simple, low-cost technologies to improve treatment support and case detection in rural areas; introducing public education and social mobilization strategies especially using mass and local media; and training thousands of health care workers on infection control, TB/HIV integration, management of MDR-TB, and referrals and follow-up. Swaziland URC is providing technical assistance to the Swaziland Ministry of Health and the NTP to strengthen Quality Improvement (QI) efforts across the healthcare system. Through the USAID-funded ASSIST Project, URC has hosted on-site QI trainings at health facilities in areas such as TB/HIV management and TB infection control. URC also works to reach the population who are non-healthcare workers on TB awareness, including schoolchildren and teachers via BCC interventions; public transportation operators via TB sensitization workshops; and prisoners and wardens via TB infection control workshops. Most notably, URC is supporting the establishment of a TB Center of Excellence (COE) in the Manzini region, a location which offers TB services to a population of 350,000. URC’s support at the future COE includes supporting establishment of an infection control committee as well as establishing a baseline for the TB screening surveillance on healthcare workers. URC with CDC-funding is also strengthening the laboratory system in the country. Vietnam In Vietnam, the TB CARE II Project is implementing the FAST Strategy in two provinces. FAST -- which stands for Finding TB suspect cases Actively through cough surveillance, Separating them until diagnosis, and initiating effective Therapy early -- is an infection control strategy that prioritizes the administration of TB infection control interventions in order to reduce transmission of TB and MDR-TB by actively identifying unsuspected cases through the use of rapid molecular technique, GeneXpert, and putting identified cases on effective therapy. URC has trained about 100 staff from various hospital departments in the two provinces on FAST tools, IEC materials, and the theory and rationale behind the FAST strategy. URC is continuing to provide technical support to the provinces as FAST implementation is scaled up at the Provincial Hospitals for TB and Lung Diseases. For more information, please visit: http://www.urc-chs.com/tuberculosis http://www.tbcare2.org http://www.tbsouthafrica.org http://www.tpp.ge |
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Geographical Reach | |
| Which country is your headquarters located in: | United States of America |
| Which countries do you do operate in: (This includes countries you are conducting activities in) |
Afghanistan Bangladesh Benin Botswana Cambodia Cote d'Ivoire Ecuador Eswatini Ethiopia Georgia Ghana Guatemala Haiti Honduras Indonesia Iraq Kenya Lesotho Malawi Mongolia Myanmar Namibia Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Philippines Russian Federation South Africa Uganda United States of America Viet Nam |
Contribution | |
| Please tell us how your organization will contribute to the Global Plan to Stop TB by briefly describing its involvement in any of the areas of work listed below: | |
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TB Care Delivery: Strengthing basic DOTS is at the heart of long-term effective TB control. DOTS represents the best strategy for coordinating TB services within the broader health system, mobilizing wide support at the operational level, reducing TB incidence, and preventing further drug resistance. URC is working in Bangladesh, Georgia, Malawi, South Africa, and other countries and is committed to working with National TB Programs to expand and develop capabilities to implement DOTS within the framework of their national TB priorities. Drug-Resistant TB: URC supports NTPs to strategically develop their response capabilities and integrate emerging tools and knowledge in order to counteract multi-drug resistant TB. For example, in Bangladesh URC supports the NTP to implement community-based models of MDR-TB care, and also supports objectives to implement infection control measures. TB-HIV: URC is working in in Southern Africa to strengthening health systems to manage integration of TB-HIV treatment, including integration of antiretroviral therapy into the TB program and training of community health workers in TB/HIV interventions. New Diagnostics: In Bangladesh, South Africa, and other countries, URC is supporting new diagnostics such as GeneXpert and iLED microscopy and is conducting training on these tools. |
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Declaration | |
| Declaration of interests: No conflicts of interest were delacred. | |
| Application date: | |
| Last updated: | June 19, 2024 |