On Thursday 3 December, KNCV presented its Benchmarking tool for Childhood TB policies, practice and planning to the meeting of the Stop TB Working Group at the World Conference on Lung Health in Cape Town. The Working Group includes program managers, pediatricians, TB doctors and others involved in promoting access for children with TB and their families to good quality TB diagnostics and care.
The tool was presented by senior consultant Connie Erkens and Dr. Nguyen Thien Huong, Co-Chair of the WPRO Regional Task force on TB in Children and KNCV Country Representative/Challenge TB Country Director, who presented the preliminary results of the use of the tool in Vietnam.
The World Health Organization (WHO) endorses and encourages the use of the benchmarking tool by countries
The benchmarking tool is a self-assessment tool, meant to serve as a basis for discussions, brainstorming, and strategic planning and as a tool for monitoring progress in the realization of childhood TB policies towards alignment with WHO guidelines, in the framework of a TB program.
An initial version of the tool was presented at the Wolfheze Workshops in May 2015, and in the months that followed stakeholders shared their experiences and insights, which led to the current version.
As experience with the tool grows, further updates and translations into Russian, Vietnamese and Portuguese are expected.
Meeting of the Stop TB Working Group: Thursday 3rd December, Table Bay Hotel, 6 Victoria and Albert Waterfront, Breakwater Boulevard, Cape Town.
Related items: News item, Monday, June 1, 2015 – KNCV benchmarking tool for Childhood TB policies and practice.