Table 2.
Organisational roles and engagement opportunities to advance a person-centred, equity-oriented approach to ending tuberculosis
| Current roles | Engagement opportunities | |
|---|---|---|
| Community leaders | Understand community priorities; administer local programmes; advocate for communities | Formal connections with tuberculosis programmes (eg, community advisory boards) to represent community priorities and build trust; community activities (eg, information campaigns) to link constituents to tuberculosis services |
| Implementing partners (eg, non-governmental and civil society organisations) | Identify disparity-affected populations; implement interventions; coordinate with local clinics to support health programmes; provide expertise on key topics; advocate for communities | Funding partnerships with tuberculosis programmes; collaborative efforts to share expertise and set priorities; collection and sharing of data (eg, on social determinants); communication of health priorities to affected populations |
| Local health-care workers | Diagnose, treat, and prevent tuberculosis; collect data for local and national tuberculosis programmes; link tuberculosis programmes with other health programmes (eg, HIV and diabetes) | Formal engagement with tuberculosis programmes and implementing partners (eg, clinical advisory boards); collaboration with non-clinical partners (eg, cross-referrals) as part of targeted interventions; expanded local data on health disparities affecting patients |
| District tuberculosis programmes | Ensure quality of tuberculosis care; implement and disseminate guidelines; set regional priorities for tuberculosis; collect data to report to national tuberculosis programme | Formal partnerships with local implementing partners and community leaders; structured activities for community engagement; incorporation of local data into reports and priority-setting |
| National tuberculosis programmes | Set national priorities for tuberculosis; fund tuberculosis programmes; advocacy at the national level for efforts to end tuberculosis; report data to other national and international organisations | Boards of district-level programmes and community representatives; flexible funding mechanisms for locally guided interventions; guidelines and accountability mechanisms that allow local priorities to be incorporated |
| Ministries of health | Address sources of ill health and health disparities; advance universal health coverage and other social supports to improve health | Champions and guidelines for integrated care; novel joint funding mechanisms; political will to advance patient-centred, equity-oriented approaches |
| District and national government (outside Ministry of Health) | Provide programmes (eg, education and housing) with potential health effects; provide funding for such programmes; collect data on relevant programmes and sectors | Partnerships to implement comprehensive tuberculosis interventions (eg, case finding in schools or slum areas); multisectoral data collection and programming efforts |
| External funding agencies | Provide financial support to improve health | Representation of patients and communities in funding opportunities; accountability structures to ensure local relevance, patient centredness, and focus on equity; funding for partnerships across disease areas and sectors |