Although factory employees are screened annually with chest x-rays, these screenings do not align with the NTP’s preferred “Double-X” TB case finding strategy, which uses chest X-ray, and GeneXpert rapid TB screening and drug resistance testing. The USAID Sustainable HIV and Tuberculosis Response from Technical Assistance project and the NTP developed a standard procedure to detect TB cases in factories. They piloted the Double-X TB screening approach by offering it free of charge to employees of a local garment factory in Nghe An. From May 15-17, Nghe An Provincial Lung Hospital screened 1,026 factory workers that agreed to be tested (70.6 percent of staff; 840 female and 186 male), who were all confirmed TB-negative.
So What? By developing a standard and simple TB screening procedure, USAID and the NTP enabled Nghe An Provincial Lung Hospital to use the Double-X strategy. With provincial funding, this approach can be sustainably expanded in Nghe An to quickly find and treat TB among factory workers.