The NOVA National School of Public Health of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (NOVA NSPH), in partnership with USAID, the JSI Research & Training Institute, and the NTP of Uzbekistan, has successfully concluded the TIFA-Uzbekistan – Tuberculosis Implementation Framework Agreement project. This project, led by Alexandre Lourenço, focused on improving human resource management to combat tuberculosis (TB) in the Tashkent region of Uzbekistan.
On June 27-28, 2024, the NOVA NSPH team, including Alexandre Lourenço, Isabel Albuquerque, Joana Seringa, and Blandina Dobrescu, conducted their final mission to Tashkent. This mission involved delivering in-person training and presenting the project’s final results, marking a significant milestone in this important collaboration.
The project’s primary objective was to develop a comprehensive HR plan for TB management. The plan comprised five key components: detailed job descriptions for TB-care activities across different settings and job categories; semi-structured interviews with professionals to identify the need for continuous organizational learning and identifying challenges, complemented by a survey assessing organizational functioning and HR perceptions and remote and in-person training on HR topics for managers at all levels in TB care facilities; and a forecasting tool tailored to Tashkent’s context to evaluate the impact of a new care model on TB bed allocations and workforce dynamics.
The TIFA-Uzbekistan project has showcased the importance of international collaboration in addressing complex health challenges. The comprehensive results achieved underscore the value of a multi-faceted approach to human resource management in TB care.
This partnership has been instrumental in the project’s success, providing a robust framework that can be adapted to other regions and countries.