ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Tuberc.
Sec. Epidemiology of Tuberculosis
Optimizing use of data and evidence-related tools to complement routine surveillance systems for tuberculosis program planning Running head: Optimizing use of tuberculosis data tools
- RM
Rachel M Fiorillo 1
- EK
Eveline Klinkenberg 2
- CB
Christina Braccio 3
- DC
Daniel Chin 4
- ST
Stavia Turyahabwe 5
- MA
Moses Arinaitwe 6
- RF
Razia Fatima 7
- TJ
Taye Janfa 8
- BH
Binh Hoa Nguyen 9
- AR
Aiban Ronoh 10
- CS
Charalambos Sismanidis 11
- NB
Nnamdi B Nwaneri 12
- KC
Kenneth Castro 13,14,15
- KF
Kathy Fiekert 6
- FM
Fukushi Morishita 16
- SS
Suvanand Sahu 17
- SA
Sevim Ahmedov 14
- HH
Harry Hausler 18,19
- AD
Anand Date 3
- JH
Jennifer Harris 3
1. Infectious Disease Department, CDC Foundation, Atlanta, United States
2. Connect TB, The Hague, Netherlands
3. Division of Global HIV and Tuberculosis, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States
4. Global Health, Gates Foundation, Seattle, United States
5. Tuberculosis/Leprosy Control Division, Ministry of Health, Kampala, Uganda
6. KNCV TB Plus, The Hague, Netherlands
7. United Nations Office for Project Services, Copenhagen, Denmark
8. National Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Other Lung Disease Prevention and Control Program, Ethiopian Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
9. Vietnam National Tuberculosis Control Program, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam
10. Division of Tuberculosis and Lung Health, Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya
11. Global TB Programme, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
12. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland
13. Hubert Department of Global Health and Department of Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, United States
14. United States Agency for International Development, Washington DC, United States
15. Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, United States
16. End TB and Leprosy Unit, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Manila, Philippines
17. Stop TB Partnership, Geneva, Switzerland
18. TB HIV Care, Cape Town, South Africa
19. Department of Family Medicine, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Abstract
Background: Challenges and gaps with routine tuberculosis (TB) data and surveillance systems are well known. To address them, numerous TB data and evidence-related tools (e.g. surveys, assessments) have been developed to help countries collect, analyze, and use TB-related data. The “TB Data Optimization Project” aimed to assess the use and usefulness of these tools and propose best practices. Methods: Phase one of this mixed-methods project included structured key informant interviews (KIIs) with TB data experts, literature review, and mapping tools’ indicators and metrics. Phase two consisted of case studies in five countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Uganda, Vietnam). Structured KIIs and a use case discussion were conducted with TB program staff and partners in each country, and TB-related documents were reviewed. Phase three was an online survey for national TB programs. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed, coded, and inductively analyzed. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively. Findings were triangulated and summarized into key themes. Results: Seventy-two KIIs were conducted, 42 countries completed surveys, and 212 documents were reviewed. Six key themes emerged: usefulness, opportunities and challenges with planning and implementation, technical assistance and financial support, timing and coordination, motivating factors for implementation, and the role of tools in relation to routine data systems. The tools provide critical information and most were considered worth the investment. Challenges include suboptimal implementation of the recommendations from the tools, poor timing and coordination of implementation, and insufficient capacity building. A set of best practices was developed. Conclusion: While the long-term goal is to strengthen and integrate routine data systems, TB data tools currently play an important role in filling gaps. Findings from this project provide considerations for optimal use of TB data tools; however, there is still need for further guidance on selecting the most critical tools to fill gaps during TB programmatic and strategic planning.
Summary
Keywords
tuberculosis supplemental data, Data utilization, strategic planning, Program planning, Tuberculosis care cascade, Data tools
Received
02 May 2025
Accepted
26 June 2025
Copyright
© 2025 Fiorillo, Klinkenberg, Braccio, Chin, Turyahabwe, Arinaitwe, Fatima, Janfa, Nguyen, Ronoh, Sismanidis, Nwaneri, Castro, Fiekert, Morishita, Sahu, Ahmedov, Hausler, Date and Harris. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Rachel M Fiorillo, rfiorillo@cdcfoundation.org
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.