Thailand - Stop TB Partnership

– Encouraging and supporting the involvement of recovered TB patients in
awareness-raising activities.
• Improve the incentive package for TB health workers, including by
– Improving salaries and developing performance-based incentives to enhance
the prestige of TB work;
– Increasing attention to TB within nursing and medical curricula;
– Ensuring adequate in-service training;
– Acknowledging and taking steps to alleviate concerns about health risks to TB
workers.
• Ensure improved support and training for village health volunteers and family
members administering DOT.
• Develop incentives for private practitioners to participate in implementing DOTS,
including by
– Implementing a nationwide computerized case recording and reporting
system;
– Providing private practitioners who agree to participate in DOTS with joint
training, laboratory services, and access to integrated systems for patient referral
and VCT;
– Enhancing support to university hospitals and research institutions to encourage
programming, research, and other activities explicitly complementary to
NTP implementation;
– Developing workplace programs to increase flexibility on working hours for
TB patients who need time off to participate in TB treatment.
• Prioritize support for research areas that can inform more effective TB control
policy. Thai TB experts have identified the following topics in need of research:
– Standardization of TB diagnostic and treatment services to minimize the risk
of MDR-TB
– Effects of sociocultural factors on TB treatment adherence
– Techniques for preventing, diagnosing, and treating TB among HIV patients
PUBLIC HEALTH WATCH MONITORING REPORTS 69