This year Birat Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT Nepal) participated in the 53^rd Union World Conference on Lung Health 2022 held virtually from November 8-11, 2022. At the conference, Ms Kritika Dixit, Research Manager, BNMT Nepal, Ms Anchal Thapa, Health Economist, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Mr. Bhola Rai, Project Manager, BNMT Nepal presented on behalf of BNMT Nepal.

Ms Dixit presented the study on stigma, depression and quality of life among people with TB in Nepal. In the presentation, she highlighted that people with TB commonly experience stigma and depression throughout their TB treatment that cause difficulties in completing the treatment. The study aimed to assess stigma, depression and quality of life along treatment journey at intensive (2-3 months of treatment) and at continuation phase (5.5 to 6.5 months of treatment). Ms Dixit presented two main findings of the study: a) stigma and depression were common and persisted throughout TB treatment and b) self-reported quality of life was low at intensive phase of TB treatment but improved towards end of the treatment. She thus concluded that to decrease stigma, and improve mental health and quality of life of people with TB, there is an utmost need for locally appropriate psychosocial interventions.

Likewise, Ms. Thapa presented e-poster entitled ‘Putting Our Best Cost Forward: A Comparative Analysis of Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Approaches for TB Patient Costing Studies’ at the conference. The study analysed the data from the longitudinal patient costing survey conducted in four districts (Chitwan, Mahottari, Dhanusha and Makwanpur) in Nepal and was the component of the European Horizon funded IMPACT TB project. She highlighted the main findings of the study: the cost estimates and socio-economic impact of TB were significantly different when comparing cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches. She further emphasized that the longitudinal approach, besides being resource intensive, has advantage over cross-sectional approach which can capture important aspects of costs and socio-economic impacts which is otherwise missed by cross-sectional approach.

Furthermore, Mr. Rai presented the preliminary finding of Medical Research Council (MRC, UK) funded Addressing the social determinants and consequences of tuberculosis “ASCOT” pilot trial. The primary aim of the randomized control trial was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a socioeconomic support package for TB-affected households in Nepal. At the conference, Mr Bhola Rai shared interim findings of the study which showed that the socioeconomic support package for TB-affected households in Nepal is feasible, acceptable, and suitable for large-scale evaluation in the ASCOT effectiveness-implementation trial.