LEAP Global Blog

Launching of the First National Tuberculosis Control Programme Health Bulletin in Bangladesh 

3 January 2025

by Ferdous Wahid, Senior TB Strategic Planning Technical Advisor, Bangladesh; Abasin Nawan, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor; and Rachel Elrom, Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor 

August 2024 marked a significant milestone for Bangladesh’s National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP), when Ferdous Wahid led the successful launch of the program's first quarterly health bulletin. Dr. Wahid is a Technical Advisor with the Long-Term Exceptional Technical Assistance Project (LEAP Global), a five-year global contract funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that embeds technical expertise in infectious disease programs in USAID priority countries to help USAID Missions and country ministries of health tackle epidemics.

Before then, a gap in consistent, structured communication from the NTP to stakeholders and the general public hindered the dissemination of critical health information. Further, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria required quarterly updates on Bangladesh’s progress in tackling tuberculosis (TB). Thus, a dedicated platform for sharing achievements, challenges, and data was needed. 

Recognizing the need for transparency and community engagement, Dr. Wahid collaborated with NTP’s monitoring and evaluation team to gather performance data, design the bulletin’s layout, and manage content approval. The bulletin, which includes statistical updates, program highlights, and success stories from across the country, provides a platform for increasing public awareness of TB control efforts; fills the need for consistent, transparent reporting on TB control in Bangladesh; helps stakeholders understand the scope, effectiveness, and challenges of TB interventions; and supports accountability and resource allocation by keeping both the public and key partners informed.

The initiative received positive feedback from both internal stakeholders and the general public. As a result, the NTP expressed its support by agreeing to make the bulletin a regular quarterly publication, reflecting both internal and external motivation to enhance communication. Moving forward, the NTP Health Bulletin will serve as a key resource for stakeholders and a communication tool for showcasing Bangladesh’s progress in TB control.

Building Diagnostic Capacity in Indonesia Using Truenat Technology 

12 December 2024

by Roni Chandra, Senior Diagnostic Network Advisor, Indonesia; Abasin Nawan, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor; and Rachel Elrom, Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor 

Testing for tuberculosis (TB) is a time- and resource-intensive process. With traditional methods and existing tools, diagnoses in remote areas can be especially difficult. And, without prompt diagnosis, treatment can be delayed, potentially leading to more-severe illness, higher-cost treatment plans, and greater risk of transmission to others.

Like many other countries, Indonesia has used GeneXpert machines in centralized laboratories to diagnose TB at the molecular level. But, these machines are cumbersome and require more-robust maintenance. They also require consistent electricity and specific environmental controls to function. In contrast, Truenat machines are more portable and less dependent on stable infrastructure, making them more adaptable to Indonesia’s remote settings. Additionally, Truenat is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for TB diagnosis and can identify rifampicin resistance, which is crucial for managing drug-resistant TB.

In a groundbreaking initiative for TB diagnostics in Indonesia, Roni Chandra led the implementation of Truenat technology as an alternative to the widely used GeneXpert. Mr. Chandra is a Technical Advisor with the Long-Term Exceptional Technical Assistance Project (LEAP Global), a five-year global contract funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that embeds technical expertise in infectious disease programs in USAID priority countries to help USAID Missions and country ministries of health tackle epidemics.

Through workshops and close collaborations with local health agencies, Mr. Chandra provided technical training to healthcare providers, ensuring they were equipped to operate and maintain the new diagnostic equipment during its deployment to floating hospitals across Indonesia. By diversifying Indonesia’s diagnostic tools, Mr. Chandra not only reduced the cost of diagnostics, but also decreased the waiting time for test results. As a result, patient access to accurate and timely TB diagnosis has improved, enabling quicker treatment interventions and supporting Indonesia’s national TB control objectives. 

LEAP Global Technical Advisors Attend the Union Conference

4 December 2024

On 12-16 November,  17 of LEAP Global's Technical Advisors (TAs) attended the Union World Conference on Lung Health, held in Bali, Indonesia. The project is so proud of all its TAs and sends extra kudos to those who presented! Below are a few pictures TAs took at the conference. And, stay tuned: the TAs will be sharing their experiences at the conference right here on the LEAP Blog. 

Project Year 2: What's ahead for USAID LEAP Global

6 November 2024

by Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor

On September 20, LEAP Global celebrated our one year anniversary. Then, Project Year 1 officially ended on September 30. LEAP Global's 12 Project Management Office (PMO) staff and 22 Technical Advisors (TAs) spent the year setting up the project and the countries we support for success. The TAs worked hard to strengthen infectious disease programming and build their host countries' capacities, while the PMO created the systems and tools necessary to onboard, embed, and support the TAs in an efficient and cost-effective manner. 

Year 2, which spans October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025, marks a new direction for LEAP Global. No longer in the start-up phase, the project is ready to ramp up. We started this new phase by restructuring our framework to set the foundation for activities over the next four years. We spent countless hours revising our workplan in partnership with USAID to ensure that every activity meticulously worked together to achieve our project goals.

LEAP Global now works in a dozen countries and has nearly as many TA positions in our pipeline. We're not nearly done yet, though. LEAP Global is expanding into new countries and technical areas every day, and we're looking to expand even more. Our three new exciting One Health TA positions in the Philippines and Zambia move the project into health security, animal health, and environment. And, we are particularly excited about onboarding a TA in Papua New Guinea for the first time. 

But, what does LEAP Global most want to accomplish in Year 2? We want to work with all of you! USAID Missions and Operating Units and in-country Ministries of Health and infectious disease programs: reach out to LEAP Global at info@leap-global.org to get more information about hiring a project TA. Technical experts and job seekers: visit https://www.leap-global.org/careers to see the latest job postings and sign up to get notified about new positions. 

The entire LEAP Global team looks forward to working and sharing our successes with you in Year 2 and beyond!

Winnie Mwanza of Zambia chosen as October 2024's spotlighted Technical Advisor

10 October 2024

by Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor

LEAP Global's Spotlight Technical Advisor interviews with project TAs take you deeper behind the scenes to get to know the project staff who are making a difference on the ground. Each month will feature a new spotlighted TA, both on the LEAP Hub and in the monthly newsletter. 

The clear honoree for October 2024 was Winnie Mwanza. Winnie honors LEAP Global every day with her dedication to conquering the tuberculosis epidemic. Read Winnie’s spotlight to access her four (!) journal articles and learn about how she makes her own yogurt and how expressive her Pomeranian Maltese dog, Billy, is. 

LEAP Global needs your help with beta testing the LEAP Hub

11 September 2024

by Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor

Last month, LEAP Global re-launched its website, the LEAP Hub. Now, LEAP Global needs your help beta testing the site.

We want your input. How easy is it to navigate the site? Does everything load quickly and clearly? Does the site provide the information you want and expect? We need answers to these questions and more to ensure that the LEAP Hub serves YOUR needs.

Please fill out this form by close of business on Monday, September 23. And, feel free to message the project at communications@leap-global.org with any questions about the beta testing or the LEAP Hub itself.

Your support on this initiative is so needed and appreciated!

Timur Bazikov of Kazakhstan chosen as September 2024's spotlighted Technical Advisor

3 September 2024

by Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor

LEAP Global's Spotlight Technical Advisor interviews with project TAs take you deeper behind the scenes to get to know the project staff who are making a difference on the ground. Each month will feature a new spotlighted TA, both on the LEAP Hub and in the monthly newsletter. 

This month, the project was happy to honor TA Timur Bazikov. Timur has received much well-deserved praise for his contributions to the Kyrgyz Republic's National TB Program. Read Timur’s spotlight to learn about his love for helping people and to access his journal article on the necessity of building government capacity in operational research. 

Amid crisis, LEAP Global Technical Advisor connects Haiti’s TB patients with life-saving treatment

23 July 2024

by Dr. Charles-Patrick Almazor, LEAP Global TB Advisor, Haiti, and Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor

Haiti’s recent gang uprising and resulting violence has left the country in a state of instability that compounds existing challenges. With hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, even the most-basic services can take a back seat to the fight for stability. One such service is medical care for the estimated 18,000 Haitians with active tuberculosis (TB; World Health Organization 2022 data). 

Among the displaced was Dr. Charles-Patrick Almazor, a TB Advisor for the Long-Term Exceptional Technical Assistance Project (LEAP Global) in Haiti, who temporarily needed to relocate to the United States. LEAP Global is a five-year global contract funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that embeds technical expertise, called Technical Advisors, in infectious disease programs in USAID priority countries to help USAID Missions and country ministries of health tackle the TB and malaria epidemics. 

Amid these challenges, Dr. Almazor’s dedication to Haiti’s TB patients never wavered. He worked closely with the Ministry of Health’s crisis team to identify operational health facilities capable of admitting TB patients who required hospitalization, thereby enhancing access to timely care and reducing transmission risks. To ensure that TB patients in need of oxygen receive this life-saving supply as quickly as possible, he helped develop efficient oxygen distribution protocols, particularly for severe cases. 

Haiti’s security crisis is still in flux, and displacement continues. But, the country’s TB patients can breathe easier–both literally and figuratively–knowing that they can access the treatment they need to thrive, thanks in large part to Dr. Almazor’s efforts. 

Improving bacteriological confirmation coverage in the Kyrgyz Republic

16 July 2024

by Timur Bazikov, LEAP Global Global Fund Technical Advisor, Kyrgyz Republic

Originally published in the May 15, 2024, edition of the Global Accelerator to End TB’s TB Digest

The Kyrgyz Republic, a country in Central Asia currently on the list of 30 countries with high burdens of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), has recently made strong advances in combating TB. However, the bacteriological confirmation coverage rate–one of the USAID’s core PBMEF indicators that measures the percentage of new and relapse pulmonary TB cases with a laboratory confirmed diagnosis– has been rather suboptimal at 62-66% for the last ten years. This means that a significant proportion of individuals with TB cases were diagnosed based on clinical manifestations, such as symptoms alone and/or with abnormal chest x-ray (CXR). 

To address this long-standing issue, USAID supported the National TB Program’s (NTP) commitment to improve the TB diagnostic practice for clinically established cases. While such cases were generally diagnosed as drug-susceptible TB (DS-TB) cases, they were typically diagnosed by a single TB physician in an inpatient facility, and mainly based on the individual’s symptoms. A further analysis into these practices suggested TB overdiagnosis may be driven by TB hospitals’ push to keep the inpatient beds occupied and continuously funded. As a result, physicians might have applied looser interpretations of diagnostic standards, that eventually potentially resulted in excessive clinical TB case diagnoses. 

A new practice was established in 2023 to systematically review such cases in TB consiliums, an expert body set up to perform collective reviews of complicated, DR-TB cases. Chaired by the NTP Manager Dr. Kadyrov at the National TB Center in Bishkek, this review has resulted in instituting a new approach to clinically establish TB case reviews based on thorough examinations of past history, risk factors, and clinical and laboratory patient data, including CXR and TST testing. The implementation of this approach has led to a meaningful reduction of clinically confirmed TB cases in 2023, and effectively increased bacteriological confirmation by 7%, from 68% in 2022 to 73% in 2023. The consilium review of clinical TB cases was accompanied by other supportive interventions, including refresher trainings for TB doctors and a new practice to re-test individuals with presumptive TB who were bacteriologically negative on laboratory tests but had borderline clinical indications for TB diagnosis. The wide use of CXRs was critical in ensuring that cases without bacteriological confirmation, but with, for example, CXR abnormalities consistent with TB (i.e., incipient and subclinical cases) were not missed and initiated on appropriate anti-TB therapy.

This cost-effective measure eventually has had various implications for individuals with TB who now have full DST data to guide their treatment regimens, thus increasing their chances for treatment success. It also saves the TB Program resources and ensures they are used in more effective and efficient manners, ultimately improving the overall quality of TB prevention and care in the country. 

LEAP Hub launches Technical Advisor Spotlight series, with Nepal's Sandesh Neupane chosen as first spotlighted TA 

2 July 2024 

by Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor 

LEAP Global is excited to launch its Technical Advisor Spotlight series. These interviews with project TAs take you deeper behind the scenes to get to know the project staff who are making a difference on the ground. Each month will feature a new spotlighted TA, both on the LEAP Hub and in the monthly newsletter. 

The LEAP Global Project Management Office unanimously chose Nepal TA Sandesh Neupane as the first spotlighted TA. Sandesh's unwavering commitment to his country, his work, and the project is exemplary, and he is a joy to have on any team. 

Over his decade in the public health sector, Sandesh has made significant contributions to Nepal's fight against Tuberculosis. Read Sandesh's spotlight interview, and learn more about his passions for social action and singing and all about what makes the Hindu Dashain holiday special. 

LEAP Global launches new website, the LEAP Hub

3 June 2024 

by Rachel Elrom, LEAP Global Knowledge Management and Communications Advisor

On Monday, June 3, LEAP Global officially launched its revamped website. Called the "LEAP Hub", the new website incorporates all the excellent pieces of the original website and expands to include additional pieces that will keep stakeholders up to date on the latest news on the project specifically and the infectious disease space more generally. 

Transferring from the original site is information featured on the About LEAP Global, About the Implementer, Meet the PMO [Project Management Office], In the News, Events, and Careers pages. New to the revamped site are the Home, Meet the Technical Advisors, Resources for TAs [Technical Advisors], Professional Development, Project Newsletter, Blog and News, TA [Technical Advisor] Spotlight, and Contact pages. 

LEAP Global encourages you to engage with the entire website, particularly the pages that center our Technical Advisors. Questions about, comments on, or suggestions for the LEAP Hub are welcome at info@leap-global.org.