A trial to mobilize NGO health volunteers to improve tuberculosis patient care in Sana'a City, Yemen.

Objectives) The study aims to show the feasibility of involvement of Non-Governmental Organiza- tion (NGO) health volunteers with regular monitoring mechanism on tuberculosis (TB) control in Sana' a City, Yemen. (Methods) Interventions to mobilize NGO health volunteers with regular monitoring field visits in two selected districts with approximately 400,000 population in Sana' a City were conducted. 52 NGO health volunteers who belonged to a domestic NGO were trained on TB case finding and case holding activities by the national TB control programme staff during the fourth quarter of 2004. (Results) 136 new smear-positive TB cases were enrolled from January 2005 to September 2006. The cure rates indicated significant improvement from 73.4% to 84.6% after start of the intervention (p=0.023). The cure rate of patients whose treatment partners were health volunteers was significantly higher than patients whose treatment partners were health centre staff (93.3% vs. 79.8%, Exact p=0.045). (Conclusion) The present study showed the favourable results of the implementation of the intervention in two selected districts in Sana' a City with regards to the treatment outcomes. The National Tuberculosis Control Programme has decided to expand the NGO' s health volunteers' involvement as treatment partners to at least urban settings in Yemen.