The Global Fund monthly performance meeting was held on 4th July at MoH headquarters. The Meeting discussed a range of issues including programmatic performance of the three diseases- Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS, and COVID 19.
The GF monthly performance meeting provides a status and performance update that assesses progress and establishes areas of improvement to bolster efficiency and effectiveness in the fight against Malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, and COVID 19.
The meeting was attended among others by the Health Ministry Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine, and the Coordinator of the Funds Coordination Unit of the Global Fund Grants in Uganda, Mr. Johnson Mutesigensi. Relatedly, according to the Aids Control Programme, as of June 2022, the Disbursement of HIV funds to Sub recipients was completed accordingly: Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions: UGX 691,361,650; Uganda Aids Commission: UGX 353,614,510; Makerere University School of Public Health: UGX 215, 450, 825; Uganda Virus Research Institute: UGX 431,493,802; Ministry of Education and Sports – UGX 2,380,848,357; Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development: UGX 467,400,000.
Last month – in June, the Sub Recipient second review meeting was held at the Kampala Serena Hotel to discuss the Sub Recipient performance, identify bottlenecks and get a way forward. The Sub Recipients have also developed acceleration plans to fast-track the Grant implementation. Meanwhile, according to the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTLP), the TB screening cascade between December 2021 and May 2022 reflects an increase in the percentage of people screened for TB from 64.5% to 66% over the 6 months period. The number of people attending clinics screened for TB grew from 2,604,488 to 3, 194,575.
The details of the TB cascade are shared in the table below:
| Data / Period | Dec-21 | Jan-22 | Feb-22 | Mar-22 | Apr-22 | May-22 |
| Total Health facility attendance | 4,036,450 | 4,107,609 | 4,155,646 | 4,742,842 | 4,303,843 | 4,840,758 |
| People attending clinics screened for TB | 2,604,488 | 2,497,832 | 2,608,657 | 3,124,773 | 2,695,262 | 3,194,575 |
| % Screened for TB | 64.5 | 60.8 | 62.8 | 65.9 | 62.6 | 66 |
| Presumptive TB Cases Identified at the health facility | 56,844 | 60,797 | 76,275 | 154,925 | 66,459 | 76,952 |
| % Presumptive TB cases identified out of persons screened | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 5 | 2.5 | 2.4 |
| TB cases diagnosed at the facility | 5,830 | 4,874 | 6,159 | 8,349 | 5,689 | 6,149 |
| % TB cases Identified (TB Yield) at facility | 0.22 | 0.2 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0.21 | 0.19 |
QUICK FACTS… About TB Diagnosis
How does the Genexpert work in testing for TB?
GeneXpert diagnoses TB by detecting the presence of TB bacteria. The test is a molecular TB test that detects the DNA in TB bacteria. A sputum sample is collected from the patient with suspected TB. The sputum is mixed with the reagent that is provided with the assay, and a cartridge containing this mixture is placed in the GeneXpert machine. All processing from this point on is fully automated and the test results are available in less than 2 hours.
What is the Truenat TB test?
The Truenat TB test is a new molecular test that can diagnose TB in one hour as well as test for resistance to the drug rifampicin. The TrueNat test was endorsed by the World Health Organisation in January 2020.
How long does it take to do a test?
It takes about 25 minutes to do the DNA extraction. It takes another 35 minutes to diagnose TB. It takes an additional one hour to test for rifampicin resistance.
Genexpert versus TrueNat
The GeneXpert machine and the TrueNat machine are designed to be used in different circumstances. The TrueNat machine is more of a point of care machine, which is not fully automated. It is designed for situations where there may not be electricity and where the need is for one test to be done at a time. The Genexpert is designed for larger volumes and needs a reliable electricity supply.
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