The Optic-TB project officially commenced with a Kick-Off meeting held in Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2024.

Prof. Amani Mori, the coordinator from UiB, welcomed participants from DR Congo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Norway, introducing the consortium and outlining their respective roles.

With over 50 participants, the two-day meeting was organized by the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) and Kampala International University in Tanzania (KIUT). This event marked the first collective gathering of representatives from all partner institutions, along with key stakeholders, to discuss project objectives, review work packages, evaluate data collection tools, and assess prospective PhD candidates’ concept notes.

In addition to introductory remarks from all beneficiaries, Dr. Erika Gaspari from EDCTP presented an overview of the EDCTP program’s development and the vision for EDCTP3. She also emphasized the importance of adhering to the provided reporting requirements and system.

The first day featured scientific presentations on tuberculosis from various perspectives, updates on all eight work packages, and detailed reporting requirements.

On the second day, the focus shifted to a presentation and extensive discussion of the data collection tools to be utilized. Potential PhD candidates presented their proposals, followed by discussions of their concepts. Time was also allocated for a presentation on the monitoring and evaluation of project activities, milestones, and deliverables.

A four-year pragmatic open-label cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted in 120 primary health facilities in the three countries. About 60,000 children with presumptive TB visiting the health facilities will be screened and those fulfilling the criteria will be enrolled in the study. 

We hypothesize that the WHO-recommended TDA strategy is superior to the standard of care (SOC) in:

• Increasing by at least 20%, the proportion of children below 10 years with pulmonary TB detected and initiated on TB treatment; and
• Improve the proportion of children with pulmonary TB with good TB treatment outcome in the intervention facilities compared to the Standard of Care. 

The primary outcomes are:

• The proportion of children detected with TB;and
• The proportion of children detected with TB and initiated on treatment 

We expect this project to produce significant outcomes that will address the issue of low paediatric TB detection in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Additionally, it aims to build research capacity for conducting implementation research in low- and middle-income countries, and to foster networking and collaboration among the partner institutions.

• WP1: Project Management & Coordination – UiB
• WP2: Effectiveness assessment, costing/cost effectiveness and impact evaluation – NIMR
• WP3: Performance validation, feasibility, and acceptability studies – MULI
• WP4: Dissemination, Communication, and networking – UCB
• WP5: Data Management, economic and statistical analysis – NIMR
• WP6: Mentorship and Capacity Building – KIUT
• WP7: Ethics requirements – UiB
• WP8: Scientific project leadership – NIMR

• Dr. Amani Thomas Mori (UiB) 
• Prof. Sayoki Mfinanga (NIMR) 
• Prof. Patrick de Marie Katoto (UCB) 
• Prof. Bruce Kirenga (MULI) 
• Prof. Angwara Kiwara (KIUT) 
• Prof. Andrew Kitua (KIU)