Intern for MATCH Analysis for TB project

Internship

3 Jan 2023

Title of project:	MATCH Analysis for TB case finding in Vietnam
Start date:	1 February 2023
End date:	1 June 2023
Application deadline:	15 January
Project lead/point of contact:	Christina Mergenthaler
Eligibility:	Must be currently affiliated to relevant master’s programme at a University and permitted to work in the Netherlands (i.e., be a resident or have a work permit and BSN). This includes MPH, MIH, MSc Health Sciences or Epidemiology, or related programs. Experience in quantitative and spatial analysis a plus, along with familiarity in tuberculosis/infectious disease control.
Type of internship	Paid- Trainees apply in practice what they have learned in theory. The internship usually takes place in the middle or towards the end of a degree. The intern has an internship supervisor and take ownership or contribute to a research project at KIT. During the internship, there is a (pro rata) internship fee. HBO/WO/University: 550 Euro bruto per month
Apply by:	Sending a CV and short motivation (300 words) to c.mergenthaler@kit.nl and j.mathewson@kit.nl

Background

Tuberculosis (TB) is among the leading causes of death from an infectious disease in Vietnam causing an estimated 17,000 deaths annually¹. Out of the 180,000 individuals with active TB each year, merely 52% are provided with treatment. Actively searching for new cases of TB – known as active case finding activities – contributes to closing this detection gap. Active case finding activities in Ho Chi Minh City between 2017 and 2019 increased TB notifications by 12%².

Tuberculosis chest camps are an effective active case finding strategy where communities where TB is expected to be highly prevalent are educated and screened for TB symptoms³. People with symptoms of TB are asked to provide sputum samples for bacteriological confirmation. TB chest camps are used to bring services to communities living in areas that are hard to reach and deprived of services, and allow for early diagnosis and treatment of undetected TB in an effort to reduce treatment delays and slow transmission of the disease³.

Effective allocation of active case finding activities in areas that are more likely to miss cases of TB are needed now more than ever. The decision on where to deploy chest camps is often based on TB notification data. Research shows that notification data are not necessarily indicative of high burden and can be driven by the health systems’ ability to identify and diagnose people with TB⁹. The MATCH approach triangulates notification data with other sources of information for a comprehensive analysis of the local TB epidemic to inform on targeted interventions.

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