In June, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Patrick Murphy, accompanied by USAID staff and local government officials, conducted a site visit to see mobile community outreach TB screening in Kandal Province, Cambodia, implemented by local partner, KHANA.
This mobile outreach screened suspected TB cases, as referred by village health volunteers by X-ray and sputum collection for GeneXpert diagnostic testing. A total of 89 (34 male and 55 female) people suspected of TB were screened. Out of these, 17 individuals were detected with active TB and put on treatment, which is a 20 percent yield.
COVID-19 has impacted mobile outreach TB screening; as a result of social distancing and movement restrictions, the number of suspected cases identified were low (89) as compared to the 300 to 400 TB suspects being identified under normal circumstances. However, KHANA continues to engage in case-finding efforts.
