Jan. 7, 2022
South-East Asia
Publication
Engaging and empowering people and communities,
Strengthening governance and accountability,
Reorienting the model of care,
Coordinating services within and across sectors,
Creating an enabling environment
STEPS – a patient centric and low-cost solution to ensure standards of TB care to patients reaching private sector in India
More than half of the TB patients in India seek care from the private sector. Two decades of attempts by the National TB Program to improve collaboration between the public and private sectors have not worked except in a few innovative pilots. The System for TB Elimination in Private Sector (STEPS) evolved in 2019 as a solution to ensure standards of TB care to every patient reaching the private sector. Evaluation confirmed that STEPS is a low cost and patient-centric strategy. STEPS successfully addressed the gaps in the quality of care for patients seeking care in the private sector and ensured that services are aligned with the standards of TB care. STEPS could be scaled up to similar settings.