Tuberculosis preventive treatment in eight SEAR countries - Current practices, implementation challenges and operations research priorities.

Objectives: Countries in the South East Asian region face similar challenges in control of infectious diseases. There is limited access to experiences and learnings of neighboring countries. The Indian Council - of Medical Research (ICMR) has established a Regional Enabler for the South-East Asia Research Collaboration for Health (RESEARCH) Platform for South East Asian Region (SEAR) countries to address the above issues. This paper discusses about current practices, implementation challenges and operations research priorities of Tuberculosis Preventive therapy (TPT) in eight SEAR countries. Methods: A three day workshop on "Capacity Building for TB Research under Programmatic Settings". was conducted under the aegis of this RESEARCH platform jointly ICMR and the Union which was participated by eight SEAR countries. Data were collected from a semi-structured questionnaire prior to the workshop and open discussions during the workshop. Results: The various challenges faced for TPT implementation were broadly categorized as poor demand and low level of acceptance by the beneficiary, low level of acceptance to provide TPT among the providers, challenges in ruling out active TB, issues with supply and supply chain management of diagnostic tests and drugs. Many operations research priorities like person centric TPT driven models, capacity building for improving cascade of care for latent TB infection, health system strengthening and effective risk communication were identified. Conclusion: Full implementation of the TPT guidelines requires focused attention and coordinated action from all stakeholders of the country to attain the full benefit of TB preventive therapy and the ultimate TB elimination goal.