Compromised immune systems place diabetics at a higher risk of contracting TB and makes them vulnerable to greater severity of the disease, which leads to poorer health outcomes, relapse and treatment failure. Until now, TB screenings have not specifically targeted diabetics in Vietnam. Between April and September 2020, USAID supported the screening of 117,227 diabetics at 19 district health centers and hospitals across seven USAID priority provinces using the “Double-X Strategy,” which uses chest X-ray, followed by GeneXpert rapid TB screening and drug resistance testing. Of the 117,227 diabetic patients screened, 2,321 received chest x-rays, of which 467 then received GeneXpert testing, and 77 patients were diagnosed with TB.

So What? By supporting comprehensive TB screening for diabetic patients, USAID is helping to intensify case finding, and moving Vietnam closer to its goal of ending TB by 2030. Lessons learned will also help to create important new national guidelines for detecting TB in vulnerable diabetic patients across the country.