Tuberculosis (TB) is among diseases of global health importance with Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) accounting for 25% of the global TB burden. TB prevalence among miners in SSA is estimated at 3,000–7,000/100,000, which is about 3 to 10-times higher than in the general population. The study’s objective was to determine the prevalence of TB and associated risk factors among mining communities in Mererani, northern Tanzania. This was a cross-sectional study conducted from April 2019 to November 2021 involving current Small Scale Miners (SSM) and the General Community (GC). A total of 660 participants, 330 SSM and 330 GC were evaluated for the presence of TB. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) database (IBM SPSS Statistics Version 27.0.0.0). Binary logistic regression (Generalized Linear Mixed Model) was used to determine the association between TB and independent predictors. Prevalence of TB was 7%, about 24-times higher than the national prevalence of 0.295%. Participants from the general community had higher prevalence of TB 7.9% than SSM (6.1%). Both for SSM and the GC, TB was found to be associated with: lower education level (aOR = 3.62, 95%CI = 1.16–11.28), previous lung disease (aOR = 4.30, 95%CI = 1.48–12.53) and having symptoms of TB (aOR = 3.24, 95%CI = 1.38–7.64). Specifically for the SSM, TB was found to be associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (aOR = 8.28, 95%CI = 1.21–56.66). Though significant progress has been attained in the control of the TB epidemic in Tanzania, still hot spots with significantly high burden of TB exists, including miners. More importantly, populations surrounding the mining areas, are equally affected, and needs more engagement in the control of TB so as to realize the Global End TB targets of 2035.

Introduction Under-reporting of adverse drug reactions is a major challenge in Tanzania. It is important to educate the health care providers about pharmacovigilance in order to improve the reporting rate. Objectives: We conducted a study with the objective of evaluating the impact of an educational intervention based on the knowledge on pharmacovigilance among healthcare providers in Tanzania. Methods: A pharmacovigilance e-blended learning method was used. Pre and post-test, courses were the basic concepts in Pharmacovigilance and the safety of Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs. Descriptive analyses were run to determine the proportions of the correct and wrong answers for pre and post training. Results A total of 118 (72%) completed the pre-and post-test for both the first and the second courses. There was an increase in the correct answers in the post-test to every question. The median score of pre-intervention for knowledge about basic pharmacovigilance increased from 5 (range 4–7) in pre-test to 8 (range 7–9) in post-test. The median score for anti-TB drug safety issues monitoring and management increased from 4 (range 4–6) in pre-test to 7 (range 7–9) in post-test. Conclusion The findings of this study showed that knowledge scores and correct answers were increased following an educational intervention among HCP.

Background: Adherence to Tuberculosis (TB) treatment is challenging because of many factors. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of digital adherence monitoring technologies in its End-TB-strategy. However, there is paucity on its evidence in improving adherence. EvriMED is a real time medication monitoring (RTMM) device which was found feasible and acceptable in few studies in Asia. However, in Tanzania, there may be challenges in implementing evriMED due to stigmatization, network and power access, accuracy and cost effectiveness which may have an implication for treatment outcomes. We propose a pragmatic cluster randomized trial, to investigate the effectiveness of evriMED with reminder cues and tailored feedback on adherence to TB treatment in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Methods: We will create clusters in Kilimanjaro based on level of health care facility. Clusters will be randomized in an intervention arm, where evriMED will be implemented or a control arm, where standard practice Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) will be followed. TB patients in intervention clusters will take their medication from the evriMED pillbox and receive tailored feedback. We will use the ‘Stages­of-change’­model, which assumes that a person has to go through the stages of pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and evaluation to change behaviour for tailored feedback on adherence reports from the device. Discussion: If the intervention shows a significant effect on adherence and the devices are accepted, accurate and sustainable, the intervention can be scaled up within the National Tuberculosis Programmes. Trial registration: PACTR201811755733759 at 8 November 2018 at https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/