While tuberculosis (TB) can be cured with appropriate treatment, long and complicated treatment regimens increase the probability of poor adherence. Research has established that TB treatments are highly unforgiving to poor adherence – missing even a few daily doses or interrupting treatment can lead to resistance to TB medicines and/or relapse.
Digital adherence technologies (DATs) were developed to be affordable approaches to support patients with the challenges of remaining adherent to treatment. In addition, DATs can facilitate the identification of high-risk patients for home visits or escalated treatment. DATs have been deployed at both small and large scale in different contexts with a growing body of evidence around them to support patient-centered care in TB and have been endorsed by the WHO.
This document provides an overview of the necessary steps for planning and budgeting a DAT deployment, ranging from countries without current DAT experience to others looking to scale up promising early-stage deployments.