Project description
The Tuberculosis Coalition for Technical Assistance (TBCTA) was a five-year Cooperative Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Cooperative Agreement covered the period from October 2000 through September 2005. In April 2004, it received a one-year extension and ultimately operated through December 2006. TBCTA was a coalition of six key organizations with expertise in global TB control: the American Lung Association (ALA), the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation (KNCV), The International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) and the World Health Organization (WHO). ALA withdrew from the coalition in 2004.

The main purpose of TBCTA was to substantially improve and expand the capacity of USAID to respond to the Global TB epidemic by providing state-of-the-art, context appropriate, technically sound and cost-effective consultation and technical assistance to USAID priority countries in order to improve TB control programs and accelerate the implementation of the DOTS strategy.

TBCTA’s main strategies included providing technical assistance by international TB consultants and building institutional and technical capacity building through global and regional trainings for national TB program staff, as well as TB consultants.

TBCTA supported 16 countries, namely Brazil, Cambodia, DR Congo, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

Activities fell into seven intervention areas;

1. increasing DOTS coverage
2. strengthening National TB Programs
3. increasing human resource capacity
4. strengthening laboratory networks
5. strengthening advocacy, communication and social mobilization
6. increasing collaborative TB/HIV activities
7. conducting operational research.