Tuberculosis medication adherence programs are needed in Vietnam because of the high burden of disease in the country.

Poor TB treatment adherence results in high risk of treatment failure, drug resistance, longer treatment regimens as well as increased costs and public health risk of infection. Recognized barriers to TB medication adherence include poverty increasing the risks of catastrophic costs, lack of knowledge by TB patients about the disease, its symptoms and consequences of poor adherence. Proper adherence is therefore important for safeguarding the individual and public health. Not surprisingly, ensuring TB adherence is a key component of the WHO End TB Strategy. One accepted digital health application in TB patient care is support for medication adherence. 

Moreover, to efficiently control the tuberculosis burden, data driven decision making is a key. We need to collect quantitative data on both the intervention and the outcome; and allow randomisation and comparison groups, thereby utilising a large number of patients.

dHealth's ecosystem provided a digital & patient-centric approach to improve management of tuberculosis programs through the Centiva Application.

Beginning in December 2019 the Vietnam National Lung Hospital (NLH) in Hanoi started to use dHealth Foundation’s Centiva Life app for the management of patients suffering from tuberculosis. Patients receive Digital Health Points when filling out questionnaires which are presented inside the app via the REDCap data collection tool.

This project aimed to improve tuberculosis treatment adherence in the era of digital financing, as well as strengthen the knowledge base for patient treatment and care.

The goal is to include 5’000 TB patients at the NLH annually. In parallel, data collection is extended to patients suffering from different respiratory diseases.