NATIONAL WORKSHOP on TDAs in CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Last July, the eHealth4ChildTB project, funded by L’Initiative – Expertise France, supported the National Tuberculosis Control Program (PNLT) of Côte d’Ivoire in organizing a National Workshop on treatment decision algorithms (TDAs) for ChildhoodTuberculosis, in collaboration with Programme PACCI & Université de Bordeaux

This workshop brought together 41 participants, including Ministère de la Santé, de l’Hygiène Publique et de la Couverture Maladie Universelle (Côte d’Ivoire) representatives, provincial and district health officers, doctors, nurses from primary, secondary and tertiary facilities, as well as representatives from NGOs, and civil society.

Plenary sessions focused on:
– TDAs for childhood tuberculosis, including the 2 WHO-suggested TDAs, the PAANTHER and SAM algorithms,
– Introduction of shorter treatment regimens for pediatric tuberculosis,
– Digital tools aimed at supporting the use of TDAs
– the eHealth4ChildTB project operational and scientific objectives

Group work sessions aimed at:
– unpacking potential barriers and facilitators to TDAs and digital tools deployed at decentralized levels, and proposing locally-adapted solutions,
– identifying strategic and operational to validate the use and discuss the deployment modalities of TDAs and digital tools in districts.

This workshop marked a critical step in the engagement of key stakeholders in the introduction of TDAs in Côte d’Ivoire.

A comprehensive TDA-based approach was validated, implementation strategies were proposed, and recommendations for the conduct of the project and its evaluation were approved.

Key next steps will be:
– the definition of the training programme for Health care workers, supervisors and mentors
– the conduct of pre-intervention surveys to describe local contexts and provide baseline data that will be used to produce impact results.

The roll out of TDAs and digital tools is expected prior end of 2025.