Neftaly: Strengthening Responsive Tuberculosis Control Across All Health System Levels
Despite progress, tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of illness and death in many parts of the world, particularly in high-burden settings. Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) poses an additional and urgent challenge. Achieving national and global targets requires a coordinated, responsive, and decentralized TB control system.
Through its targeted initiative, Neftaly (South African Youth Project) is supporting the strengthening of TB control management at national, provincial, district/municipality, and health facility levels — ensuring early detection, effective treatment, and efficient response systems.
Program Goal
To improve TB control outcomes by strengthening management capacity at all levels of the health system, with the aim of achieving 90% TB case notification and 75% drug-resistant TB treatment coverage by 2023.
Strategic Objectives
- Enhance coordination and management of TB programs from the national to facility level.
- Improve case finding, notification, and diagnostic access through system-wide integration.
- Expand treatment initiation and coverage, especially for drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) cases.
- Strengthen accountability, monitoring, and data use to drive performance.
Key Intervention Areas
1. National-Level Support and Policy Alignment
- Support the Ministry of Health in updating national TB strategic plans and guidelines.
- Facilitate intersectoral and inter-programmatic coordination for integrated service delivery.
- Advocate for sustained financing and policy commitment to meet 2023 TB targets.
2. Provincial and District/Municipality-Level Strengthening
- Build capacity of district and provincial TB managers in program planning, supervision, and resource management.
- Strengthen TB coordination committees at subnational levels to promote accountability and performance tracking.
- Ensure districts have access to real-time data and logistics systems to improve service delivery.
3. Health Facility-Level Service Delivery Enhancement
- Train frontline healthcare providers in screening, diagnosis, treatment initiation, and DR-TB management.
- Improve access to rapid diagnostic tools (e.g., GeneXpert) and support sample referral systems.
- Integrate TB services with HIV, maternal and child health, and primary care platforms.
4. Case Notification and DR-TB Treatment Scale-Up
- Implement active case-finding strategies, especially in high-risk populations and underserved areas.
- Improve linkage to care and reduce time from diagnosis to treatment initiation.
- Expand availability of second-line TB medications and DR-TB treatment centers.
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Data-Driven Action
- Strengthen TB surveillance systems to ensure timely and complete case notification.
- Use dashboards and data tools for routine program reviews and adaptive management.
- Support routine data audits and feedback mechanisms at all levels.
Expected Outcomes by 2023
✅ 90% TB case notification achieved through improved surveillance and case detection
✅ 75% DR-TB treatment coverage, reducing transmission and improving patient outcomes
✅ Decentralized TB control systems functioning efficiently at national, provincial, district, and facility levels
✅ Improved program ownership, accountability, and sustainability
Why It Matters
A well-managed and responsive TB control system is critical to ending the TB epidemic. Neftaly’s approach ensures that every case is found and every patient receives timely and effective care, especially those affected by drug-resistant strains.
Partner With Neftaly
We invite governments, TB programs, development partners, and local health authorities to work with Neftaly in building resilient, efficient, and people-centered TB control systems.