The ASCENT project in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is one of the five countries where the ASCENT project is implemented. Over 80 health care facilities in the regions Addis Ababa and Oromia are participating in the project. Patient and health care workers will make use of digital adherence technologies to support patients taking their TB treatment at home. The first patients will be enrolled mid 2020. The project aims to reach 5,000 TB patients in Ethiopia in four years.
Ethiopia has a population of 109 million people and is one of the 30 high burden TB countries in the world, as listed by the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2018 an estimated 165,000 people suffered from TB in Ethiopia, making the TB incidence rate per 100,000 people 151. An estimated 1,600 people suffered from multidrug resistant TB. The WHO estimates 23,980 people died of TB in Ethiopia in 2018. At KNCV, we find this unacceptable as with the right treatment, TB can be cured. One of the goals of the ASCENT project is to increase the number of patients that complete their treatment successfully.

news & Stories from Ethiopia
ASCENT: invest in innovative digital tools to end TB
The Unitaid-funded ASCENT project has entered its final year and is well on its way in showing the benefits in helping people affected by TB with their treatment by using digital adherence technology such as smart pill boxes, medication sleeves and video supported treatment.
ASCENT Ethiopia conducted an orientation meeting for Civil Society Organization members
ASCENT in Ethiopia conducted an orientation meeting on digital adherence technologies for civil society organization members to ensure community engagement activities.
Establishing a global market for digital adherence technologies
As part of the ASCENT project, funded by Unitaid, PATH and KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation (KNCV) release a suite of resources to expand the market for digital adherence technologies (DATs).
ASCENT’s presence at the Union World Conference 2021
The 52nd edition of the world’s largest lung health gathering took place online. With this year’s theme ‘Lung Health for All: Solutions for a New Era’, the ASCENT project naturally made a contribution.