Table 2.

Summary of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the TB Mukt Panchayat initiative.

Strengths 1.Multisectoral collaborative initiative which opens up communication channels between departments and also solicits high level of political will 2.LSG schemes for community welfare can strengthen end TB activities 3.Inclusion of PTBER as an indicator than CNR alone 4.Prioritisation of health, not sickness

Weaknesses 1.Lack of periodic monitoring mechanism, PRI representation in monitoring 2.Overemphasis on certification/award 3.Lack of Panchayat-level TB surveillance data 4.Lack of robust evaluation mechanism which threatens sustainability 5.Budget heads for planning not specified

Opportunities 1.Opportunity to improve process indicators 2.LSG level linkage of various social welfare schemes could be leveraged to end TB 3.Chance to revive defunct VHSNCs and make them flagbearers of the initiative 4.Pre-testing loss to follow-up of symptomatic individuals could be prevented through documentation at HWC level 5.Cohort-wise tracking of villages on the TB epidemiological indicators over the years 6.Potential for operational research/implementation research 7.Utilisation of the talent pool of public health professionals in medical colleges 8.Integration of TBMPI activities into FAP of medical students

Threats 1.Awareness generation if not accompanied by public health infrastructure strengthening will be wasteful 2.Disproportionate burden on frontline workers 3.Overemphasis on certification/award carries risk of data falsification 4.‘TB-free’ term may lead to complacency 5.Opportunity cost of time of NTEP officials