USAID Administrator Green Launches TB Data Hub Developed by TB DIAH
March 21st, 2019 | news
On March 21, USAID and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recognized World TB Day 2019 and the progress made on the six-month anniversary of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis (TB).
USAID Administrator, The Honorable Mark Green, talked about the key components of USAID’s new innovative model, “The Global Accelerator to End TB,” and launched a new website created by the first Accelerator project, TB Data, Impact, Assessment and Communications Hub (TB DIAH).
The new TB DIAH website features a TB data hub and communications repository that provides analysis and allows the use of TB data to inform national TB programs, policies, and USAID-supported interventions. JSI, in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), under TB DIAH, built the new website to enhance data and expand data analysis as part of USAID’s performance-based measures to end TB which is a key component of the Accelerator.
The new website provides a platform to help inform global efforts to maximize investments and move toward eliminating TB. It allows users to explore, analyze, and download key TB data from USAID TB priority countries. Country data dashboards, program objectives, and progress indicators help inform programs for better decision-making. The World TB Day event boasted remarks from The Honorable Mark Dybul, Dr. Eric Goosby, Dr. Rhehab Chimzizi, Ms. Martha Cameron, and Dr. Lucica Ditiu. Presenters emphasized the significance of getting all partners engaged in the fight against TB, reaching all affected people with prevention and care, and meeting the global target of treating 40 million people by 2022.
At the event “Marketplace,” JSI’s Dr. Stephanie Mullen, Project Director for TB DIAH, introduced the project and provided an orientation of the new website highlighting the TB data dashboards and Dr. Mullen emphasized that “as part of a country’s journey to self-reliance, country-level data is needed to improve analysis for TB program and policy decision-making. USAID, national TB programs, and other stakeholders can use this data to inform and improve programs to end TB.”
Tuberculosis is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, 10 million people in 2017 fell ill with TB, and 1.6 million died from the disease. TB is a significant comorbidity of HIV, accounting for the deaths of 300,000 HIV-positive persons in 2017. USAID TB priority countries have high rates of TB, drug-resistant TB, and HIV-associated TB.
The TB Data, Impact Assessment and Communications Hub (TB DIAH) project works to improve and harness existing tuberculosis (TB) data and knowledge sharing on TB worldwide. It is the first activity under the Global Accelerator to End Tuberculosis strategy, announced by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project is housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and is managed by a team from UNC and John Snow, Inc. (JSI).
JSI is a public health consulting firm dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities in the United States and around the world.
