Since 1985, Malawi has experienced a dual return and rise of HIV and TB, causing a major public health issue in the country. HIV remains the most important risk factor for developing active TB disease in Malawi: 52% of people with TB are also infected with HIV, and Malawi remains one of the few countries with more casualties due to a combination of HIV and TB rather than just TB.
LSTM was one of the first institutions in the world dedicated to research in the field of tropical medicine. Committed to working in some of the world’s most difficult contexts, their mission is to reduce the burden of sickness and mortality in disease-endemic countries, which they achieve by delivering health interventions that are relevant to low-resource areas. Using Simprints to enrol and identify participants, research assistants at LSTM tested a new regimen to diagnose and treat tuberculosis (TB) in patients attending a local Blantyre clinic, a significant number of whom are also being treated for HIV.
“Simprints helps us save time and labour. We like working with the scanner because it's easier to identify patients.”
LSTM Research Assistant
With Simprints, LSTM research assistants were able to accurately enrol and verify study participants out of over 12,800 patients each time they walk into the clinic, thereby catching duplicate enrolments and ensuring each participant was placed in the right study group.