Project Summary
This project would contribute to the ultimate elimination of tuberculosis in the European Union by utilising evidenced based interventions to ensure early diagnosis, improve integrated care and support community and prison outreach activities in low- and high-incidence countries.
We aim to achieve this by working in several member states and jointly evaluating evidence based interventions, taking best practice approaches from countries where co-applicants have developed national strategic plans and providing a framework, in collaboration with ECDC, to support the adaptation and implementation of these measures. We will prioritise migrants, homeless persons, prisoners, problem drug users and those with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.
Work packages include:
Outreach for early diagnosis: Using a mobile x ray unit equipped with computer aided diagnostics and molecular test to detect TB in Romania and Bulgaria and ensure appropriate support to complete treatment.
Migrant TB detection, prevention and treatment: In Italy, we will actively screen new and settled migrants for active and latent TB respectively ensuring that those testing positive are appropriately managed and generating the evidence to support future European policy.
Establishing a database of Latent and active TB in Europe starting with Italy, Sweden, Netherlands and the UK to inform epidemiological analysis and future interventions to control TB.
Supporting national TB programmes to develop action plans and national TB control strategies by establishing an action framework.