A look at planned work and future Challenges
— from the Executive Director
Facilitators of Community Transformation (FACT) is looking forward to establish well implementation models for the workplan in place to achieve the intended goal and objectives of the organization. FACT is a well-recognized, women led non-Governmental organization established to promote sustainable national development by ensuring that Marginalized populations (the elderly, Women, Girls, Children, Youths, Prisoners, refugees, people with disabilities, key populations, and people in displacements) are accorded their fundaments rights and equitable access to Health, Education, Agricultural and Public Development services. FACT therefore is looking forward to provide evidence through research, capacity building, social mobilization, networking and advocacy on how the marginalized populations are accorded to their fundaments rights and equitable access to Health, Education, Agricultural and Public Development services Currently FACT implements its projects under donor support and in six months to come the organization envisions to widen up its capacity to establish a self-reliant resource mobilization mechanisms to sustain its operations.
Currently FACT implements projects under health and it envisions to have also projects under education, agriculture economics and development in the next six months period. Most importantly, we want to see FACT growing in terms of staff, as we currently have 13 staff members and we still have some positions which are vacant. Currently FACT is in 13 districts implementing various projects. We also plan to scale up projects in other districts.
TB treatment and prevention is vital to achieve the targets
The 2018-2022 Global TB report of World Health Organization sets a target to reach 90% of people in need of TB treatment and prevention. By improving the rates at which people are diagnosed and treated, countries can reduce the spread of the disease and drive down incidence. This requires early detection and prompt treatment of 90% of people with T (both DS-and DR-TB) and 90% of people who require preventive therapy. Proactively reaching out to people who are at risk of TB and providing systematic screening, diagnosis and appropriate care – an approach commonly known as active case finding – is essential to reaching the millions of people who go without access to TB services. While the best approaches to active case finding will be determined by local contexts, emerging best practices include supporting community- based outreach efforts; strengthening health systems to be able to better provide TB services; integrating TB screening with other health interventions (e.g., HIV, diabetes, nutrition); optimizing the use of existing tools and resources; scaling up successful active case finding pilots; and ensuring government financing and support for active case finding
Some of the key recommendations in the project includes on the need for District TB Officers and MANASO lead volunteers to regularly supervise follow-up of TB patients by volunteers and Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs). Additionally allocate enough fuel for follow ups and report collection from SCPs. Unfortunately, fuel allocation was not adequate sparked by skyrocketing fuel costs that have affected a lot of public health interventions across Malawi and this project is not an exception. There is also a need to introduce a star performance award for best performing groups or individuals so as to promote health competition and good performance among the groups in the TB responses.
As seen in the work by FACT, MANASO and other partners in the Global Fund TB work, adequate resourcing is vital alongside a stronger community health system backed with well-trained cadres of frontline health workers and community-based volunteers in building a stronger TB response.
Thokozile Phiri-Nkhoma
Executive Director