The Stop TB Partnership TB REACH initiative/ASCENT project

For their Wave 6 round of funding, the Stop TB Partnership's TB REACH initiative, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, funded thirteen projects that focused on the use of digital adherence technologies (DATs) to enhance treatment support and improve treatment outcomes. These projects were implemented in twelve different countries, targeting varied populations or settings, and using different DAT tools such as 99DOTS, evriMED, SureAdhere vDOT, or other locally developed technologies. These thirteen different TB REACH DAT projects provide a unique opportunity to understand the use and implementation of DATs for TB treatment across different settings and contexts. Lessons learned from these projects can contribute to addressing the global evidence gap for understanding the impact that these tools can have on treatment outcomes, as well as understanding of the barriers/enablers to implementation and use of these tools by TB programmes, people living with TB and their health care providers.

The Unitaid-funded ASCENT project (led by the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and partners) aims to support patient adherence to TB treatment using DATs. The project aims to reach nearly 70 000 patients in Ethiopia, the Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania and Ukraine. It focuses on facilitating country adoption and uptake of DATs; generating crucial evidence for optimal use and scale-up; and creating a global market and implementation plan for DATs.