SMC partners with icddr,b and USAID to fight tuberculosis in Bangladesh
SMC signed an agreement with icddr,b on September 22, 2020 for combating tuberculosis (TB) in Bangladesh under the financial assistance of USAID TB Local Organizations Network (LON) Project. The project will disburse an amount of US$ 3.2 million and it will be implemented over the period of next three years. Evidently, Bangladesh has one of the highest number of people infected by TB world-wide. Despite the country’s tremendous progress to combat the disease over the past few years, significant efforts are necessary yet to support Bangladesh to reach the national strategic plan aligned with the EndTB 2025 and 2035 goals. The icddr,b-led consortium of five Bangladesh-based organizations – "The Alliance for Combating TB in Bangladesh (ACTB)" is developing strategies to fight against TB in response to USAID’s local organizations network (LON) project. As an alliance member, SMC will contribute to achieve the following two major objectives:
•Engage informal private providers to increase screening of presumptive cases and develop a mechanism to follow-up referral cases for treatment compliance.
•Involve community-level women entrepreneurs for screening and finding of presumptive cases at the community level.
SMC believes that collective efforts will help to achieve the overall goal of the consortium to eradicate TB from the country.
