About TB ARC II Programme

Tuberculosis Accelerated Response and Care II (TB ARC II) is a five-year activity targeted at reducing the incidence, and TB related morbidity, and mortality in line with the 90-95-0 targets to End the TB epidemic in Kenya. It is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is being implemented as a follow-on to the TB ARC Activity which ended in November 2018.

Targeted populations include young men aged between 25 to 34, urban dwellers, HIV uninfected, and women over the age of 65 noted to have a higher prevalence of TB, and the most vulnerable – children, HIV-infected persons, health care workers, refugees, and other marginalized populations.

In 2016, Kenya completed her first post-independence TB prevalence survey

This was a population-based cross-sectional survey, designed to derive national level TB estimates. TB prevalence was estimated at 558 per 100,000 adult population, doubling the pre-survey estimate of 266 per 100,000 (MOH, 2016). The incidence rate was estimated at 348 per 100,000. In absolute numbers, there are 169,000 estimated TB cases annually, meaning that with a prevalence to notification ratio of 3.5:1, four out of every 10 TB cases are missed in Kenya each year.

Age, gender and geographical disparities were apparent from the survey

Age-specific prevalence rates of bacteriologically confirmed TB revealed the highest prevalence among adults aged 25-34 years (716 per 100,000) followed by those aged 45-54 years (607 per 100,000). The prevalence among men (809 per 100,000) doubled the female prevalence (359 per 100,000) highlighting gender disparities. The burden of TB was also higher in urban areas (760 per 100,000) compared to rural areas (453 per 100,000).

Our Response

This activity aims to:

  • Improve TB case finding
  • Improve access to high quality, patient-centered TB, DR-TB and TB/HIV services
  • Prevent TB transmission and disease progression
  • Strengthen TB service delivery platforms, and
  • Accelerate research and innovation

The TB ARC II Activity is implemented by a consortium led by Centre for Health Solutions – Kenya (CHS) in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Lung Disease Program (NTLD-Program), The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Population Services Kenya (PS Kenya), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), STOP TB Partnership-Kenya and Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO).

Current TB Situation

TB is an epidemic of global public health concern being the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, surpassing HIV/AIDS.

The World Health Organization (WHO) lists  Kenya among the 30 high burden TB countries globally.

Kenya’s National TB prevalence survey, 2016  indicated a 426 per 100,000 population of TB prevalence, meaning, the country remains high burden for TB, TB/HIV and Drug Resistant TB (DR TB).

According to the National TB Program 2022 annual report, Kenya has an estimated incidence of 133,000 TB cases.

90,560 people with Drug Susceptible Tuberculosis (DSTB) and an additional 752 with DR TB were diagnosed and started on treatment in 2022.

65% of all cases notified with TB in 2020 were men, hence they remain the most affected population.

In 2022, 20 – 44 years age group carried the majority of TB burden with 11.4% (10,324) of all notified cases constituting children under the age of 15 years.

TB/HIV collaboration continues to be strengthened with TB and HIV programs rolling out joint activities to address the challenges of TB/HIV co-infection. As a result, the 2022 TB/HIV indicators were as follows: 93% HIV testing rate, 97% ART uptake, and 23% HIV co-infection rate among TB patients.

The roll out of the latest WHO approved TB tools in the country through the Introducing New Tools Project (iNTP) from June 2022 has seen an improvement in TB control.

As of December 2023, 50,208 people have been screened for TB using the eight CAD4TB digital chest x-ray machines, 48,033 tests have been done using the 38 truenat machines, 4,265 TB patients have been enrolled on the digital adherence technology platform in Nairobi and Mombasa counties, and all the 251 TB diagnostic tools configured to one monitoring system, the TIBULIMS.

Result Areas

Increase timely use of quality TB, TB/HIV & DR-TB treatment
Promote Participatory approaches to improve TB Service uptake
Enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the NTLD Program

Latest News & Stories