Cross-cutting Research

The LIGHT consortium recognises that robust cross-disciplinary research is urgently needed to devise and implement optimal prevention, diagnosis, treatment and health system approaches that address challenges across the TB care cascade. This will also enable rapid deployment of new tools for TB control (vaccines, new drugs and shorter drug regimens, diagnostics). Accordingly, cross-consortium research activities and analyses will be carried out by the different partners in the UK (i.e., LSTM & LSHTM) and Africa to complement in-country research through consolidating data from multiple settings and assessing the impact and effectiveness of various research interventions.

Such research activities include:

Modelling the potential epidemiological impact of improving men’s access to care, primarily conducted by LSTM, LSHTM and MLW research teams, will be applied across the projects to deepen understanding of implications of scaling up or modifying interventions.

Gender and intersectionality framework analysis of TB burden and care, primarily carried out by LSTM, MLW and MLI research teams, and will be applied across all projects to ensure a consistent approach and build on existing country gender assessments

Health economics and cost effectiveness studies, primarily conducted by LSTM, and willbe applied across all projects to allow comparisons of the in-country intervention, through analysing the economic consequences of TB and generating evidence to inform national policies.
Community-participatory research will be carried out across all four countries. This research approach aims at establishing a deeper understanding of the real issues/problems and barriers facing people with TB and those affected by TB (i.e. their families and communities) in relation to accessing TB services and care, as well as involving the community in identifying solutions and ways to overcome these barriers.