Correction: Expansion of social protection is necessary towards zero catastrophic costs due to TB: The first national TB patient cost survey in the Philippines.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Changing epidemic of tuberculosis amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in the Western Pacific Region: analysis of tuberculosis case notifications and treatment outcomes from 2015 to 2022.

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has deeply impacted tuberculosis (TB) services globally. This study aims to assess the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on TB diagnosis and care and explore associated factors in the Western Pacific Region.

Methods: We analysed TB case notifications and treatment outcomes for the Region and 14 selected countries and areas from 2015 to 2022.

Variation in Grain Zinc and Iron Concentrations, Grain Yield and Associated Traits of Biofortified Bread Wheat Genotypes in Nepal.

Wheat ( L.) is one of the major staples in Nepal providing the bulk of food calories and at least 30% of Fe and Zn intake and 20% of dietary energy and protein consumption; thus, it is essential to improve its nutritional quality. To select high-yielding genotypes with elevated grain zinc and iron concentration, the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth HarvestPlus Yield Trials (HPYTs) were conducted across diverse locations in Nepal for four consecutive years: 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19, using 47 biofortified and 3 non-biofortified CIMMYT-bred, bread wheat genotypes: Baj#1, Kachu#1, and WK1204 (local check).

Expansion of social protection is necessary towards zero catastrophic costs due to TB: The first national TB patient cost survey in the Philippines.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease associated with poverty. Moreover, a significant proportion of TB patients face a substantial financial burden before and during TB care. One of the top targets in the End TB strategy was to achieve zero catastrophic costs due to TB by 2020.

Perceptions of the Private Sector for Creating Effective Public-Private Partnerships against Tuberculosis in Metro Manila, Philippines.

This article's goal is to assess the perspectives of private providers on current and future public-private engagement in Metro Manila, a city of 13 million using semistructured interviews with a convenience sample of 18 private physicians. Our study found that private providers perceived their clientele as loyal and their services as distinct from public services, with unique attractions of convenience and quality of service. They saw value in engaging with the public sector for knowledge exchange, access to public-sector commodities, and access to public sector assistance with public health tasks related to tuberculosis (TB).

Examining the quality of childhood tuberculosis diagnosis in Cambodia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Cambodia is one of the 22 countries with the highest TB burden. While childhood TB is estimated to make up 10-20% of total TB cases in high-burden settings, this proportion ranges from 1.3 to 39.

Bringing state-of-the-art diagnostics to vulnerable populations: The use of a mobile screening unit in active case finding for tuberculosis in Palawan, the Philippines.

Background: Globally, case detection of tuberculosis (TB) has stabilized in recent years. Active case finding (ACF) has regained an increased attention as a complementary strategy to fill the case detection gap. In the Philippines, the DetecTB project implemented an innovative ACF strategy that offered a one-stop diagnostic service with a mobile unit equipped with enhanced diagnostic tools including chest X-ray (CXR) and Xpert®MTB/RIF (Xpert).

Mitigating Financial Burden of Tuberculosis through Active Case Finding Targeting Household and Neighbourhood Contacts in Cambodia.

Background: Despite free TB services available in public health facilities, TB patients often face severe financial burden due to TB. WHO set a new global target that no TB-affected families experience catastrophic costs due to TB. To monitor the progress and strategize the optimal approach to achieve the target, there is a great need to assess baseline cost data, explore potential proxy indicators for catastrophic costs, and understand what intervention mitigates financial burden.

Increased Case Notification through Active Case Finding of Tuberculosis among Household and Neighbourhood Contacts in Cambodia.

Background: Globally, there has been growing evidence that suggests the effectiveness of active case finding (ACF) for tuberculosis (TB) in high-risk populations. However, the evidence is still insufficient as to whether ACF increases case notification beyond what is reported in the routine passive case finding (PCF). In Cambodia, National TB Control Programme has conducted nationwide ACF with Xpert MTB/RIF that retrospectively targeted household and neighbourhood contacts alongside routine PCF.

A systematic review: effectiveness of mass media campaigns for reducing alcohol-impaired driving and alcohol-related crashes.

Background: Mass media campaigns have long been used as a tool for promoting public health. In the past decade, the growth of social media has allowed more diverse options for mass media campaigns. This systematic review was conducted to assess newer evidence from quantitative studies on the effectiveness of mass media campaigns for reducing alcohol-impaired driving (AID) and alcohol-related crashes, particularly after the paper that Elder et al.

Tuberculosis case-finding in Cambodia: analysis of case notification data, 2000 to 2013.

The routine tuberculosis (TB) surveillance system in Cambodia has been strengthened under the National TB Programme (NTP). This paper provides an overview of the TB surveillance data for Cambodia at the national level for the period 2000 to 2013 and at the subnational level for 2013. The proportion of the total population that were screened for TB rose from 0.

Results from early programmatic implementation of Xpert MTB/RIF testing in nine countries.

Background: The Xpert MTB/RIF assay has garnered significant interest as a sensitive and rapid diagnostic tool to improve detection of sensitive and drug resistant tuberculosis. However, most existing literature has described the performance of MTB/RIF testing only in study conditions; little information is available on its use in routine case finding. TB REACH is a multi-country initiative focusing on innovative ways to improve case notification.

The association between household poverty rates and tuberculosis case notification rates in Cambodia, 2010.

Introduction: Poverty is a risk factor for tuberculosis (TB); it increases the risk of infection and active disease but limits diagnostic opportunities. The role of poverty in the stagnant case detection in Cambodia is unclear. This study aims to assess the relationship between district household poverty rates and sputum-positive TB case notification rates (CNRs) in Cambodia in 2010.

Early detection of tuberculosis through community-based active case finding in Cambodia.

Background: Since 2005, Cambodia's national tuberculosis programme has been conducting active case finding (ACF) with mobile radiography units, targeting household contacts of TB patients in poor and vulnerable communities in addition to routine passive case finding (PCF). This paper examines the differences in the demographic characteristics, smear grades, and treatment outcomes of pulmonary TB cases detected through both active and passive case finding to determine if ACF could contribute to early case finding, considering associated project costs for ACF.

Methods: Demographic characteristics, smear grades, and treatment outcomes were compared between actively (n = 405) and passively (n = 602) detected patients by reviewing the existing programme records (including TB registers) of 2009 and 2010.