Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract NACNDC/19JASH078 (Poster B1) | Published: 01 Dec 2025
Clark Joshua Brianwong1,&, Diana Cherotin1, Lwanga Ssekiswa1, Adriko Godfrey1, Kasi Timothy1, Richard Jjuuko1, Patricia Nahirya1, Alexander Mugume1, Dithan Kiragga1
&Corresponding author: Clark Joshua Brianwong, Baylor Foundation Uganda, Email: clarkjoshua001@gamil.com, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1548-2684
Received: 11 Sep 2025, Accepted: 20 Oct 2025, Published: 01 Dec 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Tuberculosis, contact investigation, mobile health, community health workers, Uganda
©Clark Joshua Brianwong et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Clark Joshua Brianwong et al., A mobile-geospatial approach to TB contact tracing: Community health worker-driven TB case finding in Eastern Uganda. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc6):078. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO6-00078
Uganda is among the 30 countries with the highest tuberculosis (TB) burden worldwide. Despite WHO recommendations to implement systematic household contact investigation (CI), national yields remain low (1.7–5.3%), with significant regional disparities. Conventional paper-based systems exacerbate this gap due to reporting delays, data inconsistencies, and weak oversight. Addressing these challenges requires innovative, context-appropriate solutions that enhance data quality, timeliness, and accountability. With mobile phone ownership among health workers in Eastern Uganda reaching 98%, we introduced a mobile-geospatial digital platform to strengthen TB contact tracing.
Baylor Foundation Uganda implemented a paperless TB contact tracing system across 16 districts, covering 171 of the 217 supported health facilities (79%), beginning with a pilot in five districts. The application, built on Kobo Toolbox and installed on health workers’ phones, guided structured interviews using the national Intensified Case Finding (ICF) tool and exposure history, while capturing geolocation data of index patients and contacts. Contact tracing teams, a health worker and a community health worker (CHW), conducted household visits, screened contacts, provided TB prevention education, and collected samples from presumptive cases. Data were reviewed weekly, and the platform integrated with Uganda’s electronic case-based surveillance system (eCBSS) to flag index cases lacking CI, enabling real-time monitoring and accountability. CHWs and facility staff were trained and supported in a 1:6 facility ratio.
Between April 2024 and August 2025, a total of 24,264 contacts were screened. Of these, 15,927 (66%) were initiated on TB preventive therapy (TPT). Among 4,917 presumptive individuals, 486 were diagnosed with TB and started on treatment, yielding a case detection rate of 9.8%, notably higher than historic national averages.
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