Browsing by Author "Chihota, V."
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- ItemOvercoming limitations of tuberculosis information systems : researcher and clinician perspectives(International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 2019) Van Der Heijden, Y. F.; Hughes, J.; Dowdy, D. W.; Streicher, E.; Chihota, V.; Jacobson, K. R.; Warren, R.; Theron, G.Setting: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment requires patients to have multiple encounters with health care systems and the different stakeholders who play a role in curing them to coordinate their efforts. To optimize this process, high-quality, readily available data are required. Data systems to facilitate these linkages are a neglected priority which, if weak, fundamentally undermine TB control interventions. Objective: To describe lessons learnt from the use of programmatic data for TB patient care and research. Design: We did a survey of researcher and clinical provider experiences with information systems and developed a tiered approach to addressing frequently reported barriers to high-quality care. Results: Unreliable linkages, incomplete data, lack of a reliable unique patient identifier, and lack of data management expertise were the most important data-related barriers to high-quality patient care and research. We propose the creation of health service delivery environments that facilitate, prioritize, and evaluate high-quality data entry during patient or specimen registration. Conclusion: An integrated approach, focused on high-quality data, and centered on unique patient identification will form the foundation for linkages across health systems that reduce patient management errors, bolster surveillance, and enhance the quality of research based on programmatic data.
- ItemSusceptibility of a series of routine sputum samples for antituberculosis chemotherapy in Gweru, Zimbabwe(Health & Medical Publishing Group, 2004) Apers, L. M.; Chihota, V.Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to the commonly used antibiotics in national tuberculosis programmes (NTPs) is a growing concern in many parts of the world.1 Nevertheless there is much anecdotal, but little published, evidence that drug resistance is becoming an important barrier to effective TB control.2 In Zimbabwe the only routine source of data on drug resistance that is going further than individual case management is that of the national TB reference laboratory. This institute is performing routine drug susceptibility testing on sputum samples for the whole country. According to the NTBP guidelines, this test is only done on specific indications, i.c. when a sputum-positive patient has not converted to negative after 2 months of intensive antituberculosis chemotherapy.