Project Overview:

HEED Bangladesh has been selected as a Sub-Grantee under the Life-saving Facility and Community-based Service Delivery support – Bangladesh Project of icddr,b, funded by the Stop TB Partnership/UNOPS. Duration of the project initially three (03) months, with the possibility of extension subject to donor approval.

Under this Scope of Work (SoW), HEED Bangladesh will implement targeted tuberculosis (TB) prevention, screening, diagnosis facilitation, referral, and treatment linkage interventions among tea garden workers and their families.

Tea garden communities are a marginalized ethnic minority population with limited access to public health services and a disproportionately high risk of TB due to poverty, undernutrition, overcrowded living conditions, smoking prevalence, and poor health-seeking behavior.

To address these challenges, HEED Bangladesh applies a community-based and outreach-focused approach, aligned with the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) and implemented in close coordination with icddr,b and district health authorities. This project builds on HEED Bangladesh’s prior experience in tea garden health interventions and contributes to restoring and sustaining life-saving TB services disrupted by funding gaps.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Community Mobilization and Screening

Conduct systematic, community-based TB symptom screening among tea garden workers and household members.
Mobilize community members to participate in TB screening camps, diagnostic services, and outreach activities.
Create awareness on TB symptoms, prevention, treatment, and available services through interpersonal communication.
Conduct Tea Garden mapping and submit the names and population data as required.
Conduct screening using TAB.

2. Active Case Finding (ACF)

Door-to-door and group-based TB symptom screening among tea garden workers.
Identification of presumptive TB cases using standardized screening tools.
Special focus on high-risk individuals (undernourished workers, smokers, elderly, previously treated TB cases).
Support household contact investigation and TPT referral.

3. Treatment and Follow-up Support

Conduct regular treatment adherence follow-up visits and provide counseling to TB patients and their families.
Support household contact investigation and facilitate referral of eligible contacts for TB preventive treatment (TPT).
Ensuring follow-up of post-TPT patients by visiting households.

4. Organize Camps & Coordination

Organize portable X-ray camps to ensure community access to TB screening.
Organize sputum camps and support specimen collection.