Tackling TB and HIV Together in Papua New Guinea

Past project

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a low-level mixed HIV epidemic and the highest HIV incidence and prevalence in the Pacific region. Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health threat in PNG with a high incidence rate (432 per 100,000) and a rapid rise of multi-drug resistant/rifampicin resistant TB (MDR-RR- TB).

Burnet Institute is the sub-recipient to World Vision on a grant to support priorities and interventions in alignment with the National STI and HIV Strategy 2018–2022 and the National Tuberculosis Strategic Plan 2015–2020.

The grant implements in 3 provinces:

East New Britain
New Ireland
West New Britain.

The principles of implementation are:

integration
task shifting/sharing (involving community)
provincial implementation in line with the existing decentralised model (national health plan)
policy guidance and technical support through national level.

Objective

The main project objectives are to:

increase the TB case notification rate for bacteriologically confirmed, new and relapse cases, from 43 per 100,000 population in 2013 to 93 per 100,000 population in 2020
increase the TB treatment success rate of bacteriologically confirmed new TB cases from 68 percent in 2012 to 88% in 2020
increase the coverage of HIV testing of TB pa1ents from <25 percent in 2013 to >90 percent in 2020
70% of PLHIV know their status by 2020
70% of PLHIV are accessing antiretroviral therapy by 2020
90% of PLHIV on ART have a suppressed viral load within 12 months of commencing ART by 2020
contribute in ensuring uninterrupted supply of drugs and medical products for Malaria, TB and HIV programs through effective operationalisation of m-Supply, a Logistics Management Information System (LMIS), among existing and expansion sites in 2017 and 2020 respectively
initiate pilot TBHIV programs within local communities to reduce the burden of TBHIV transmission
promote and strengthen TBHIV infrastructure with respective provincial health authorities, stakeholders and NGOs