Overall epidemic of Tuberculosis
World Health Organization set Thailand as one of 14 countries with the highest TB burden in 2015. There are both TB patients and TB, plus HIV patients. The number of new TB infections is 120,000/year, whereas 12,000 people of the whole new infections died from TB and there are also around 2,200 people who are multi-drug resistance tuberculosis patients. Even though the prevention and control of diseases have been working unceasingly, the transformations of population, that are the higher number of elders and the move of migrants, cause TB to remain the significant health problem in Thailand.
In addition, The rate of new TB infections in Thailand is 1.3 times higher than the global average. However, there are only 59% of patients who are diagnosed and reported so it signifies that a big part of patients is not able to reach the proper service or get the service behind time. That problem results in the epidemic of TB in communities and needs to be fixed critically before the situation starts to get so severe that it is unable to be controlled by regular/ fundamental anti-tuberculosis medicines.
World Health Organization set Thailand as one of 14 countries with the highest TB burden in 2015.
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Project Goals
Reducing 12.5% of TB prevalence per year
Reducing from 171 per 100,000 in 2014 to 88 per 100,000 in 2021
“Thailand is free of TB” “Free of TB in Thailand”
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Vision of national strategy
The national TB Strategy 2017-2021
World Health Assembly in May 2014 appointed the global TB strategy, that came after 2015, as The End TB Strategy which aims at ending the global epidemic of TB and reducing 95% of the number of TB deaths and 90% of new infections within 2035. Besides, no families will get financial trouble from being TB patients or from The End TB Strategy. Thailand also made up the national TB strategy 2017-2021 that intended to reduce 12.5% of the prevalence of TB per year and lessen TB patients from 171 per 100,000 in 2014 to 88 per 100,000 at the end of 2021.
Strategy No.1
Intensifying in seeking for TB infections and patients by classifying them into vulnerable groups.
Covering 100% of TB infections and separate the vulnerable group to ensure that they receive the accelerated diagnosis, which working with chest radiograph, together with molecular biological technology, and receive the standardized treatments. This strategy is supported by the government sector, private sector as well as civil society that are altogether responsible for the diagnoses, treatments and TB patients transferences.
Strategy No.2
Reducing the number of TB deaths
Decreasing 50% of TB deaths, compared to 2014 within 2021 by encouraging TB patients to receive standard and efficient anti-tuberculosis medicine. Intensifying the integrated implementation of AIDS and TB and also extending the management of multi-drug resistance tuberculosis to cover all area in Thailand.
Strategy No.3
Building the capacity for staffs or implementor to prevent, treat and control the disease
Strengthening the leadership, strategic management of prevention, treatment and control of TB by developing the online TB patients database which combines with the improvement of potential and motivation in each TB staffs.
Strategy No.4
Generating the sustainable strategic management mechanisms
Critically building the sustainability of policy support by gathering people working in operations, preventions, treatments and controls disease and setting up a national prevention and control disease group. A mentioned group cooperating with the AIDS and Malaria strategy and after that founding specific funds to operate continually and promoting the laws relating to TB right after the end of grant support from The Global Fund.
Strategy No.5
Promoting researching or developing innovation of the treatment and control disease
Intensifying in research that suggests the approaches to enhance the TB implementation and promoting the practical innovations which function strategically as well as cohere to each area by improving National Tuberculosis Research Roadmap.
Ending TB through RRTTR
RRTTR is a package of service consisting of five components which are Reach-Recruit-Test-Treat-Retain. It is employed and applied in STAR (Stop Tuberculosis and AIDS through RRTTR). STAR, cooperating with RRTTR will be able to screen TB patients fast and more strictly. The patient will promptly receive the effective medication and will be retained the system until they fully recover; therefore, the number of deaths as well as new infections will be declined and that is the absolute goal of global and national Ending TB. The Implementation during 2015-2019 will emphasize on key populations and their partners.
Provision of knowledge in each community is conducted by volunteers who understand particular language and receive the credibility/reliability from the key population. There are promotions of using protective equipment to people who are at risk.
Setting mobile clinics in areas where there are key populations to screen TB patients
Transferring key population into the services//system
Finding the early detection patients and give them the immediate medication
Finding TB patients critically in migrants who are at risk. Also Searching for multi-drug resistance tuberculosis or TB and HIV-positive patients.
Accelerated Diagnosis via/ with the molecular detection system
Doing HIV testing to TB patients, and similarly TB testing in HIV patients
Volunteers and staffs, who understand particular language and receive the credibility/reliability from the key population, provide knowledge for communities and create motivation for patients to get the services.
Promotion in the use of protective equipment in population who are at risk.
Providing services for migrants who do not have health insurance
Monitoring others who live in the same house as the Sputum tuberculosis or multi-drug resistance tuberculosis patients and patients who are elderly.
Providing services with anti-tuberculosis medication to children who are TB patients. Providing anti-tuberculosis medicines to early detection patients who are HIV-positive and antiretroviral medicine to HIV infected people who live in the same house as TB patients.
Giving second-line treatment to multi-drug resistance patients who does not have health insurance
Monitoring the complete and continual taking of medicines in TB and multi-drug resistance TB patients. Checking the drug resistance and also drug allergy.
Encouraging the patients to protect as well as check themselves regularly
Utilizing the report system to save and connect the information so that the patients’ updates are maintained efficiently in the system.