Information management in national tuberculosis control programmes and national health information systems

A good notification system is one of the key elements for the success of national tuberculosis programmes (NTPs). The national health information system (NHIS) in low income countries is often weak and unreliable. When restructuring this system, what circuit should be used to integrate TB data: the NTP or the NHIS? Experience from several countries shows that unlike the NHIS, only the data generated by the NTP are reliable and complete, and arrive rapidly enough to be used for programme management. It is therefore the duty of the NTP to collect this information and transmit it to the NHIS at each level of the health system. These were the conclusions of a seminar held in Cotonou, Benin, organised by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, which involved the leaders of the NHIS and of NTPs of six West African countries.