Over the years, digital technologies have been introduced to improve patients’ adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment, but with little research showing how feasible these technologies are. Therefore, the ASCENT project launched a global study on digital adherence technologies. Devex interviewed Kristian van Kalmthout, digital health consultant at KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and project director at ASCENT, about the launch of the research phase
Experts started to enroll drug-sensitive patients across Ethiopia, the Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, and Ukraine with high TB burdens or high multidrug/rifampicin-resistance into the study. “We hope that our research and our evaluations will contribute to the World Health Organization policy improvements to [TB] treatment,” Kristian van Kalmthout told Devex.
The Unitaid funded and supported ASCENT project is led by KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation in partnership with The Aurum Institute, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and PATH.
