Stop TB Partnership

Private sector collaboration helps tackle TB among garment workers in Bangladesh

30 November 2012 - Dhaka - A collaboration between public, private and nongovernmental organizations in Bangladesh has had notable success in tackling tuberculosis (TB) among garment factory workers.

The project, funded by the UK Department for International Development as part of the COMDIS research programme, deployed a range of strategies to tackle TB in partnership with businesses in three areas of Dhaka.

Between 2008 and 2010, the project diagnosed and treated a total of 600 people among a population of 69 000 workers, with a 100% treatment success rate.

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association is now working to roll out the approaches from the project across its member organizations.

The full results of the project are published in an article in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, along with an editorial by Mukund Uplekar and Monica Dias of the WHO Stop TB Department.