Country perspectives on improving technical assistance in the health sector.

This paper presents learnings from the Re-Imagining Technical Assistance for Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health and Health Systems Strengthening (RTA) project implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria from April 2018 to September 2020 by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. and Sonder Collective and managed by the Child Health Task Force. The first of RTA's two phases involved multiple design research activities, such as human-centered design and co-creation, while the second phase focused on secondary analysis of interviews and reports from the design research.

Research gaps in transforming tuberculosis data to action for better health outcomes: A systematic literature review.

Background: In their work to end the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in lower- and middle-income countries, national TB programs need a tool to measure, monitor, and strengthen relevant capabilities to create a continuous transformation of data into action (D2A) to improve TB program results. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence to determine specific measurement dimensions of a D2A continuum that enables TB programs to identify the barriers and enablers of D2A and to guide the selection of interventions appropriate for the context and decision-making capabilities of various TB program actors.

Methods: A systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature was conducted per Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Quality of TB services assessment: The unique contribution of patient and provider perspectives in identifying and addressing gaps in the quality of TB services.

Ambitious efforts to detect and treat tuberculosis (TB) are required to reduce the burden of disease in low resource settings, and the provision of high quality TB services is critical to reaching global TB targets. The quality of TB services assessment (QTSA) is a facility-based approach aimed at identifying gaps in TB services and prioritizing interventions to improve care across multiple countries with high TB burden. Randomly sampled facilities are assessed with standardized instruments to collect data on structures, processes, and outcomes of TB care, with adaption for local diagnostic and treatment algorithms.

Diagnostic accuracy of serological diagnosis of hepatitis C and B using dried blood spot samples (DBS): two systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Background: Dried blood spots (DBS) are a convenient tool to enable diagnostic testing for viral diseases due to transport, handling and logistical advantages over conventional venous blood sampling. A better understanding of the performance of serological testing for hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) from DBS is important to enable more widespread use of this sampling approach in resource limited settings, and to inform the 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on testing for HBV/HCV.

Methods: We conducted two systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the diagnostic accuracy of HCV antibody (HCV-Ab) and HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) from DBS samples compared to venous blood samples.