On March 15, 2020, Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, declared a national state of disaster. The country was beginning to see an influx of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.
Less than two weeks later, the president implemented a national lockdown, “one of the strictest lockdown regimes in the world,” with almost no movement permitted and all non-essential activities to be ceased.
Unfortunately, even a strict lockdown could not slow the number of confirmed cases ticking upward. As more and more South Africans became infected, the economic downturn pushed many into unemployment, and low-income households experienced deepened food insecurity.
Amid the increasing burden of problems caused by the outbreak, vulnerable communities grew steadily more at risk. People with existing conditions and illnesses, already at high risk of being infected by COVID-19, were now experiencing difficulty in leaving their homes to keep up with treatments and receiving their medications. Even more was the added stress of catching and succumbing to the virus.
It was clear that in spite of the many restrictions in place and risk of the outbreak looming over, support and treatment for patients with existing conditions and illnesses had to continue. IRD South Africa recognized this necessity at the onset of the lockdown, and has been working tirelessly to ensure patients receive the quality healthcare services they so desperately need.
The IRD team works closely with the Department of Health to carry out multiple projects and studies, with a special focus on tackling the incidence of TB. In light of the pandemic, all teams adapted their programs in interim, implementing safety precautions to minimize the risk of COVID-19 for themselves and to the patients, while they continued their projects.
IRD South Africa’s Non-communicable Disease (NCD) Link Project works with local facilities in Durban. The project team screens and diagnoses patients with NCDs, and then screens their household contacts to find additional diagnoses and refer onwards for testing and treatment.
“Under normal circumstances, these activities are conducted face-to-face – health workers visit patients’ homes to screen their households and refer them for further screening and treatment,” said Noeline. “But during the lockdown, we had to adhere to distancing requirements.”
To adapt to the new guidelines, patients were provided with longer term prescriptions of medication to limit their visits to the clinics, allowing them to maintain physical distance. The IRD team put a hold on their screenings, and instead shifted their focus to supporting patients’ physical and mental well-being.
Globally, there has been an uptick in the number of people struggling with their mental health, as the pandemic has caused great uncertainty, financial struggle and loneliness. So in order to support their patients, the team developed an in-depth questionnaire to assess how their patients were coping during the pandemic. Health workers would contact patients over the phone, conduct check-ins and go through the questionnaire, providing support, advice and further treatment if needed.
IRD has also been working on finding TB patients who are ILTFU – initial loss to follow up – and having them initiated on treatment as soon as possible. Working with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and local primary care centers, the South Africa team follows a “patient alert and response” system. They receive notifications for positive patients, track and monitor whether they comply with their treatment, and manage data collection at facilities.
“When the lockdown went into effect, healthcare workers could no longer visit facilities and care centers to access and upload data into the system,” said Jolene Chetty, Program Manager. “Instead, they had to coordinate with focal persons at respective centers to continue the alert and response system.”
IRD South Africa’s TB MATE study also continued to monitor treatment adherence of TB patients. Patients enrolled are given a pill box with an electronic module. This pill box is connected to a database and tracks every time the box is opened by the patient to take their medication.
The box is also scheduled to set off an alarm to remind the patient to take their pills, and an automated SMS is sent to the health workers in case the box is not opened. This system allows for an immediate response when there is cause for concern – if the patient misses three doses, health workers receive a notification and reach out to the patient directly, ready to provide adherence counseling and support.
During the national lockdown, patients could no longer be enrolled into the study in order to maintain physical distance. However, the team continued monitoring already-enrolled patients over the phone, allowing them to continue supporting vulnerable patients while maintaining the safety of both groups.
As of June 1, South Africa has begun to ease its lockdown, allowing some activities to resume. However, with 600,000 cases and counting, restrictions such as physical distancing are still being maintained and healthcare workers have to don PPE when they go to work, be it in the office, care facilities or centers.
Now more than ever, high-risk patients must be made a priority as a COVID-19 infection is likely to place them in a very difficult situation. The IRD South Africa teams have continued their commitment to supporting the most vulnerable communities, and will continue to do so throughout this pandemic.
In 2021, HIV remains one of the most stigmatized infections around the world. In South Africa, over 7 million people live with HIV (PLHIV), making it the highest burden country for the disease. Despite 90% of people in South Africa being aware of their HIV status, misconceptions and misinformation continue to alienate PLHIV from their communities, creating a barrier to seek and access treatment care and support. Access to legal services for PLHIV and those that are affected by it, is essential for an effective response to the epidemic.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) Innovations in Covid-19 Antigen RDT Rollout in Underserved Populations: Extension of Deadline for proposal submission
Please see attached for FAQs and Answers.
On behalf of the ACT-Accelerator, FIND and IRD are seeking proposals from organizations with a proven track record of training & capacity building in healthcare and community outreach settings utilizing innovative approaches to implement screening using SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostics tests (Ag-RDTs) in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
Interactive Research & Development (IRD) categorically rejects the sweeping and groundless allegations in the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) Investigation Report on the TB grant published on 1 April 2021. We are taking appropriate legal action to defend IRD from the unfounded allegations and findings made against it.
The Lagos State Ministry of Health (LSMoH) is a Principal Recipient (PR) for Integrated Global Fund (GF) Grant comprising of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Resilient Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH). As the Principal Recipient, the Ministry of Health is legally responsible for the management of the integrated grant ensuring achievement of the programmatic results and accountability of the grant financial resources.
On March 15, 2020, Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, declared a national state of disaster. The country was beginning to see an influx of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.
IRD Pakistan is looking for an independent monitoring firm to undertake the “Process Monitoring and Coverage Evaluation of School-Based Deworming in the five districts of Gilgit Baltistan (GB)”.
Across Pakistan, there is a lack of mental health services and adequate safe spaces for communities to practice well-being. Last week, the IRD Mental Health Program launched a one-of-a-kind solution to this issue - the Pursukoon Zindagi Wellness Centre, a container facility providing a dedicated safe space to practice emotional and mental well-being.
The sole bread-winner of a family living in Thatta, shares his story of perseverance in a pioneering MDR-TB clinical trial.
IRD Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited is looking for an independent monitoring firm to undertake the “Process Monitoring and Coverage Evaluation of School-Based Deworming in the 16 district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)”.
The international medical humanitarian organizations Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Interactive Research and Development (IRD) announced today the start of a clinical trial in Pakistan that aims to find better, shorter treatments against multidrug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
IRD Pakistan is looking for an independent consultant for the design of an android application which will use gamification to train vaccinators.
IRD Pakistan is looking for an independent monitoring firm to undertake the Process Monitoring and Coverage Evaluation of School-Based Deworming in 16 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
IRD Pakistan is looking for an independent monitoring firm to undertake the Process Monitoring and Coverage Evaluation of School-Based Deworming in 16 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Interactive Research and Development Pakistan (IRD Pakistan) is looking for an independent evaluation firm to undertake the “Process Monitoring and Coverage Evaluation of School-Based Deworming in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) in Pakistan".
The Challenge TB (CTB) Project is the flagship global initiative for implementing USAID’s TB strategy and is being implemented in 22 countries including Bangladesh by a unique coalition of nine international organizations in TB control.
Partners In Health (PIH), Interactive Research and Development (IRD) and the Zero TB Initiative (ZTBI) welcome the release of the interim results from the STREAM Stage 1 clinical trial. This is the first clinical trial of a new treatment regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), and we congratulate the investigators for successfully conducting it. Unfortunately, we have noticed much confusion about the results of this clinical trial, both in the lay press and in the countries in which we work.
Fighting off a disease like TB has never been easy since it often comes coupled with issues of stigmatization, discrimination and other health related challenges to individuals who are suffering from it. It is estimated that 51 % of TB patients suffer from comorbid conditions like depression and anxiety due to the fear of social isolation and stress caused by prolonged treatments. Likewise, diabetes, another comorbid condition of TB, suppresses the human immune system and severely affects TB treatment outcomes.
Tobacco smoking significantly increases the risk of Tuberculosis (TB) infection, disease and mortality. The World Health Organization estimates that greater than 20% of the global burden of TB may be attributable to smoking.
Disease and poverty are affecting millions of lives in low income communities of Pakistan. Poor working conditions, unemployment, food insecurity, stress and illiteracy are some of the key social determinants of health that, if not improved, leave a severe impact on the lives of TB patients. If a patient’s surroundings lack socio-economic support systems, there is a decreased chance of attaining desired results during or after treatment.
Frontline Health Workers form the backbone of the health system in LMICs. They are the first contact for primary health care for millions of under served people, yet are burdened by archaic paper systems. Governments struggle to supervise this large workforce, ensure data quality and timeliness of reporting, guarantee appropriate and equitable care under low resource conditions. Time spent on paperwork undermines the quality and coverage of essential services.
endTB will provide access to new anti-TB drugs for more than 3,000 people and run clinical trials to identify safer and more effective treatments.
Research shows a unfortunate trend of young adolescent girls in low income populations being particularly vulnerable to Tuberculosis (TB) in Pakistan.
Mental Health is an overlooked and neglected part of healthcare. The Pakistani healthcare system is still struggling to provide primary and secondary healthcare causing mental health services to be pushed on the back burner. With rapid urbanization, disparity of health services and growing socio economic divide – the emphasis of mental health services becomes increasingly important.
IRD is seeking proposals for software vendors to develop eHealth and mHealth applications for its role in the USAID-funded Challenge TB project.
Interactive Research and Development South Africa (IRD SA) is a proud recipient of the TB Reach Wave 5 funding. IRD SA will be implementing a program focusing on identifying children under 5 with TB and people living with HIV. The program is titled “Accelerate and Strengthen the Pediatric, Neonatal and Perinatal cycle for TB and HIV Care and Improve Post-Exposure Management”.
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