Digital innovations, TB and implementation research meeting

In continuation of the joint collaborative efforts of WHO and ERS, a meeting on the theme of “Digital innovations, TB and implementation research” is being held in Geneva, Switzerland on 11-12 December 2018. The aim of the meeting is to produce by March 2019 a document to help countries design and seek funding for implementation research projects to improve digital technologies for TB control.

In pursuit of this aim, the agenda of the meeting will cover the following points:

• the main challenges to implement various digital innovations to improve TB patient care, surveillance, programme management and eLearning in Brazil, China, India, the Russian Federation and South Africa (BRICS countries) in recent years;

• translating research findings to the local context when implementing digital technologies for TB in the public and private sectors; and

• the drafting of an outline of the “how-to” document to help countries itemise, describe and cost the implementation research of digital technologies for public health interventions in resource-limited settings.

Ahead of the meeting countries will be encouraged to prepare posters to summarize their experiences and plans. A description of the opportunities that countries availed of when undertaking implementation research or translating study findings to their context will be particularly interesting.