The ASCENT project in South Africa
South Africa is one of the five countries where the ASCENT project is implemented. Over 50 health care facilities in the Gauteng Province- Tshwane District and Western Cape Province- West Coast District 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 in October 2020. The project aims to reach 16000 TB patients in South Africa in two years.
South Africa has a population of 58 million people and is one of the 30 high burden TB countries in the world, as listed by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the WHO in 2018 an estimated 301,000 people suffered from TB in South Africa, making the TB incidence rate 520 per 100,000 people. An estimated 11,000 people suffered from multidrug resistant TB. The WHO estimates 63,000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2018.
news & Stories from South Africa
The Community Advisory Board for the ASCENT project is established
Alex, 35 years, a miner and TB patient in Tanzania, was enrolled on 99DOTS digital adherence technology. Since the start of his treatment, he takes his medication daily. “It made my treatment easier and I wish the same for others.”
Bulacan and Pampanga provinces to test the use of digital adherence technologies
Randomization events were held in the Bulacan and Pampanga provinces in the Philippines to identify the health facilities which will use digital adherence technologies as part of the ASCENT project.
Virtual meeting to prepare ASCENT study activities
In July, the ASCENT project organized a virtual meeting for all Research Managers to prepare the study activities that will be conducted in the different ASCENT countries.
Requests for quotations
The ASCENT project has two requests for quotation (RFQ’s): 1. For printing of cardstock medication sleeves. 2. To facilitate incoming and outgoing interactions with an adherence platform.