OpiniãoA wide range of private health care providers exist in different settings, and the services they provide vary. It is important for NTPs to map the different private health care providers in their settings and implement flexible models of engagement guided by the scope of services they provide. The 2018 WHO Roadmap towards ending TB in children and adolescents highlights the need to train private health care providers in child and adolescent TB, including systematic TB screening, sensitize them on the importance of mandatory reporting, and inform them about the child-friendly formulations available for TB treatment (5).
The 2018 WHO Public–private mix for TB prevention and care: a roadmap outlines 10 key actions for successful engagement of the private sector (Box 6.7). These actions can be used by NTPs to guide private-sector involvement as a model of care for TB care and treatment in children and adolescents (174).
Engagement of the private sector via a combination of interventions such as awareness campaigns, community screening by lay providers, use of digital technology and provision of incentives led to a two-fold increase in TB case notifications in Pakistan. In this project, a 7.3-fold increase was documented for PTB notifications among children, highlighting the role of private-sector engagement in TB management for children (166).
26 Nikshay is the web-enabled patient management system for TB control under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program