Successes and set-backs of the TB Program

Thereafter, NEPHAK conducted a training workshop involving 103 civic leaders and local administrators. The local administrators and civic leaders have expressed the need to form a network that would not only address their concerns about the two epidemics but also help them amplify NEPHAKs advocacy on TB/HIV.

• The urgency to train a further 100 ambassadors was based on DLTLDs instructions that NEPHAK should have had two hundred Ambassadors and with that number, could reach the shared target of 1,200,000 school children with health talks on tuberculosis. NEPHAK promptly trained 100 more Ambassadors in mid 2008 to meet the new demand.
•  NEPHAK Ambassadors did their best and submitted prompt reports contributing to DLTLD overshooting its target on school health talks. (Compare 1,385,795 equivalent to 115% with the target number of 1,200,000 school children planned to be reached).
• NEPHAK contributed significantly to the country’s overshooting of the WHO country target of 40% children who fluently speak on TB by contributing to the achievement of 72%.
• NEPHAK participation and contribution to the number of NGOs nationally, who were expected to be implementing TB ACSM helped the country to overshoot the WHO country target of 32 by reaching 47 (146%) by the third quarter.
• Long after DLTLD had asked NEPHAK to put the Ambassadors on hold, NEPHAK still receives calls indicating that many of the ambassadors are still rendering their voluntary service to the health facilities and TB patients without any allowances to date. This voluntarism demonstrates the interest and personal sacrifice and commitment that NEPHAK Ambassadors attach to their training and calling.
• NEPHAK enjoys the support and cooperation of DTLC, NACC field Coordinators and CACC coordinators, civic and administration leaders; and local partners wherever it has community projects. The TB project is no exception.
• NEPHAK has complied with DLTLD and E & Y instructions to do a compressed work plan putting activities of year 1 quarter 4 and year 2 and 3 together into year 3 work plans. This compressed work plan was done and submitted as required to DLTLD in the period Oct-Nov 2008.
• A no-cost extension of the project that was communicated in July 2008 came a full seven (7) months after the TB Ambassadors had given their energies and time to participate in supervised tracking of treatment defaulters, intensive case finding in facilities with in-patients, and school health talks on tuberculosis as part of NEPHAK TB ACSM contribution to the national tuberculosis program.
• The 100 TB ambassadors drawn from within 17 districts earlier mapped out before the start of the project worked for 7 months without receiving their monthly travel and communication allowances due to non-disbursements of quarter four (4) funds to NEPHAK by the Financial Management Agency.  The Agency cited budget overruns occasioned by the delay in communicating the no-cost extension of activities to NEPHAK.