Projects

The USAID-funded Defeat TB project in Kyrgyzstan aimed to improve TB case detection, treatment, and follow-up, esepcially for multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB patients in outpatient settings. FHI 360 had major contributions in three areas: laboratory strengthening of the national TB network and response, MDR TB case management and guidance, and the improvement of infection control practices. In this project, FHI 360 also supported an overall vision for universal and equitable access to high quality TB services for vulnerable populations through national health reform and the development of a community-oritned system of TB care.

The Fleming Fund Country Grant for Nepal for tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Nepal was funded by the UK government through the Department of Health and Social Services. The project’s goal was to help strengthen the capacity of human resources and laboratory and surveillance systems for AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU) in humans and animals. Additionally, the project established a functional One Health AMR/AMU surveillance technical working group to support the Antimicrobial Resistance Containment Multi-sectoral and Steering Committee.

The CDC Laboratory Strengthening project in Vietnam helped to build laboratory capacity for the detection and management of HIV. Under this work, 26 government laboratories in Vietnam became ISO accredited at the provincial and district levels. An additional funding award was given to provide laboratory strengthening and capacity building for key TB laboratories in the country. FHI 360 helped establish data connectivity using the GxAlert system for all GeneXpert sites in Vietnam.

The CDC Medical Waste Management (MWM) project focused on developing comprehensive medical waste documents for the Global AIDS program, including facility policies, standard operating procedures, training materials, equipment selection criteria, technology guidance documents, and a waste committee term of reference. FHI 360 has also provided support in renovating MWM systems, implementing environmental mitigation and monitoring plans, supporting ministries of health in implementing new MWM systems, and training health facility staff on injection safety and proper handling and disposal of used syringes and other medical waste.

The SEAICRN, a clinical research consortium by NIH, performed collaborative clinical trials to evaluate influenza and other emerging infectious diseases impacting the Asia Pacific region. FHI 360 contributed to this network by building the capacity of infectious disease hospitals and laboratories to conduct clinical research studies on the emergence of avian and human influenza. Under this project, the first government laboratories in Indonesia and Vietnam became internationally accredited. FHI 360 also led clinical trials to understand the causes and management of community-acquired sepsis.

The CDC Kenya project endeavored to scale-up laboratory systems, specifically in quality improvement and quality management, and address barriers to access and increase uptake of HIV viral load (VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID) testing within the pre-analytical, analytical and post analytical phase of the VL and EID cascade, including weaknesses in sample referral systems, return and uptake of results, and monitoring and evaluation of the cascade for improvements.