Lessons learned from people-centred TB care and support interventions in the Russian Federation

In recent years, key TB indicators have improved in the Siberian and Far Eastern federal districts (FDs) of Russia, but these regions still face the challenge of reducing the numbers of patients with drug-resistant-TB and TB/HIV co-infection. TB care and support interventions recommended by the WHO have been implemented, such as home-based and outpatient treatment, use of digital technologies and provision of psychosocial support.

The study used a short survey to assess the influence of these interventions on patient adherence to treatment during the period 2018-2022 in the Siberian and Far Eastern FDs. The survey was sent to the heads of TB clinics in the 21 regions.

Of the 21 regions invited to take part in the study, 20 returned answers; 14 of these completed the survey fully, and the other six only partially (as some of the data requested are not routinely collected in those regions). The results show that TB care and support interventions, especially psychosocial interventions, are associated with a reduction of number of patients lost to follow-up and the number of TB cases.

Care and support interventions have only been implemented for a relatively short period, and their use needs to be continued, along with the creation of a data repository to enable monitoring and further studies to meet targets on TB control.