Early user perspectives on using computer-aided detection software for interpreting chest X-ray images to enhance access and quality of care for persons with tuberculosis.

Despite 30 years as a public health emergency, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world's deadliest diseases. Most deaths are among persons with TB who are not reached with diagnosis and treatment. Thus, timely screening and accurate detection of TB, particularly using sensitive tools such as chest radiography, is crucial for reducing the global burden of this disease.

Implementing a chest X-ray artificial intelligence tool to enhance tuberculosis screening in India: Lessons learned.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) based chest X-ray (CXR) screening for tuberculosis (TB) is becoming increasingly popular. Still, deploying such AI tools can be challenging due to multiple real-life barriers like software installation, workflow integration, network connectivity constraints, limited human resources available to interpret findings, etc. To understand these challenges, PATH implemented a TB REACH active case-finding program in a resource-limited setting of Nagpur in India, where an AI software device (qXR) intended for TB screening using CXR images was used.

Screening COVID-19 by Swaasa AI platform using cough sounds: a cross-sectional study.

The Advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to the use of auditory data for detecting various diseases, including COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 infection has claimed more than six million lives to date and therefore, needs a robust screening technique to control the disease spread. In the present study we created and validated the Swaasa AI platform, which uses the signature cough sound and symptoms presented by patients to screen and prioritize COVID-19 patients.

Delivering hypertension care in private-sector clinics of urban slum areas of India: the Mumbai Hypertension Project.

In India, the private sector provides 70% of the total outpatient medical care. This study describes the Mumbai Hypertension Project, which aimed to deliver a standard hypertension management package in private sector clinics situated in urban slums. The project was conducted in two wards (one "lean" and one "intensive") with 82 private providers in each.

Adaptations to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic by private sector tuberculosis care providers in India.

Background: India's dominant private healthcare sector is the destination for 60-85% of initial tuberculosis care-seeking. The COVID-19 pandemic in India drastically affected TB case notifications in the first half of 2020. In this survey, we assessed the impact of the first wave of COVID-19 in India on private providers, and changes they adopted in their practice due to the pandemic.

STEPS - a patient centric and low-cost solution to ensure standards of TB care to patients reaching private sector in India.

Background: More than half of the TB patients in India seek care from the private sector. Two decades of attempts by the National TB Program to improve collaboration between the public and private sectors have not worked except in a few innovative pilots. The System for TB Elimination in Private Sector (STEPS) evolved in 2019 as a solution to ensure standards of TB care to every patient reaching the private sector.

Engaging with the private healthcare sector for the control of tuberculosis in India: cost and cost-effectiveness.

Background: The control of tuberculosis (TB) in India is complicated by the presence of a large, disorganised private sector where most patients first seek care. Following pilots in Mumbai and Patna (two major cities in India), an initiative known as the 'Public-Private Interface Agency' (PPIA) is now being expanded across the country. We aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of scaling up PPIA operations, in line with India's National Strategic Plan for TB control.

One year of COVID-19 and its impact on private provider engagement for TB: A rapid assessment of intermediary NGOs in seven high TB burden countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted health systems and health programs across the world. For tuberculosis (TB), it is predicted to set back progress by at least twelve years. Public private mix (PPM)has made a vital contribution to reach End TB targets with a ten-fold rise in TB notifications from private providers between 2012 and 2019.

Phone calls for improving blood pressure control among hypertensive patients attending private medical practitioners in India: Findings from Mumbai hypertension project.

Despite the availability of effective medication, blood pressure control rates are low, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Adherence to medication and follow-up visits are important factors in blood pressure control. This study assessed the effectiveness of reminder telephone calls on follow-up visits and blood pressure control among hypertensive patients as part of the Mumbai Hypertension Project.

Tapping private health sector for public health program? Findings of a novel intervention to tackle TB in Mumbai, India.

Background: India carries one-fourth of the global tuberculosis (TB) burden. Hence the country has drafted the ambitious National Strategic Plan to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025. To realise this goal, India's Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) and partners piloted a novel strategy to engage private-providers for tuberculosis care via a "Private-provider Interface Agency" (PPIA) in Mumbai and other locations.

Map, know dynamics and act; a better way to engage private health sector in TB management. A report from Mumbai, India.

Background: India, world's leading Tuberculosis burden country envisions to End-TB by optimally engaging private-sector, in-spite of several unsuccessful attempts of optimal private sector engagement. Private Provider Interface Agency (PPIA), a new initiative for private-sector engagement, studied the private-sector networking and dynamics to understand the spread, typology of providers and facilities and their relations in TB case management, which was critical to design an intervention to engage private-sector. We report the observations of this exercise for a larger readership.

What would it cost to scale-up private sector engagement efforts for tuberculosis care? Evidence from three pilot programs in India.

Background: Private providers dominate health care in India and provide most tuberculosis (TB) care. Yet efforts to engage private providers were viewed as unsustainably expensive. Three private provider engagement pilots were implemented in Patna, Mumbai and Mehsana in 2014 based on the recommendations in the National Strategic Plan for TB Control, 2012-17.

High diabetes prevalence among tuberculosis cases in Kerala, India.

Background: While diabetes mellitus (DM) is a known risk factor for tuberculosis, the prevalence among TB patients in India is unknown. Routine screening of TB patients for DM may be an opportunity for its early diagnosis and improved management and might improve TB treatment outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of TB patients registered from June-July 2011 in the state of Kerala, India, to determine the prevalence of DM.