. 2016 Mar 29;213(Suppl 2):S41–S46. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw035

Table 1.

Improvements in Key Indicators After Introduction of Public-Private Partnership (PPP)–Supported Interventions to Strengthen the Tuberculosis Specimen Referral System

Indicator	Time
Indicator	Before PPP Interventions	After PPP Interventions
Staff members trained on specimen referral system, no.	0^a,b	724 (649 health facility and laboratory staff; 75 postal staff)^c
Districts covered by formal training, proportion (%)	0/111 (0)^b	80/111 (72)^c
Referral sites mapped by GIS, proportion (%)	200/900 (22)^b	835/900 (93)^c
Number of sites referring specimens to NTRL (%)	50/900 (6)^d	400/900 (44)^e
Sputum specimens referred, no.	655^d	5813^e
Presumptive MDR tuberculosis specimens referred, no.	84^d	877^e
Laboratory-confirmed MDR tuberculosis cases, no.	47^d	71^e
Specimen transport time, d, median (range)	12 (1–240)^d	2 (1–82)^e
Specimens arriving at NTRL within 3 d of collection, proportion (%)	58/655 (9)^d	5476/5813 (94)^e

Abbreviations: GIS, geographic information system; MDR, multidrug resistant; NTRL, national tuberculosis reference laboratory.

^a No formal training was available.

^b Data are from before 2008.

^c Data were obtained through 2011.

^d Data were obtained during January–December 2008.

^e Data were obtained during January–December 2011.