Sustaining Ukraine’s Progress in Fighting TB

June 01, 2017

Sustaining Ukraine’s Progress in Fighting TB

Tuberculosis, which is the leading cause of death among infectious diseases in Ukraine, is especially dangerous due to the high estimated number of patients with multidrug-resistant TB. Since its implementation in 2008, e-TB Manager, a digital case management tool, has shown strong results: 81% of users, including doctors, nurses, and laboratory professionals, agree that it has improved patient care, and 70% say it enhances productivity.

SIAPS principal technical advisor Niranjan Konduri explained more in an article by Sophie Edwards published in Devex. Konduri recently published a study on user experiences with e-TB Manager in Ukraine in the ERJ Open Research Journal.

“The real benefit of e-TB Manager is its ability to improve decision making among doctors, enabling them to make faster and better informed diagnoses and treatment plans,” said Konduri.

“Digitizing patient information systems through a system such as e-TB Manager can help address these problems since it enables doctors to keep better track of patients and to get a more complete picture of their medical history, something which was challenging with the old paper-based system.”

Because Ukraine is still facing challenges in its fight against the disease, the administration’s proposed cuts to foreign assistance could jeopardize the progress made in the past nine years. Read more in full article here.