This year’s prestigious Kochon Prize has been awarded to REACH ETHIOPIA, a collaboration including LSTM, at the 45thUnion World Conference on Lung Health in Barcelona. It was presented to Dr Daniel Datiko, the Field Director for REACH.
The prize, which has been awarded annually since 2006 by the Stop TB Partnership, is presented to the individual or organisation that has made a significant contribution to combatting tuberculosis (TB). Its previous recipients include Médecins Sans Frontières and the Desmond Tutu TB Research Centre.
REACH ETHIOPIA is a non-governmental organization in Ethiopia whose main objective is to increase the identification of TB cases and to improve TB treatment among vulnerable and high risk populations through using close to community approaches in the Southern Region of the country. Founded in 2010, REACH ETHIOPIA has implemented innovative community packages engaging community health extension workers (HEWs) to increase TB case detection and treatment adherence. HEWs are female workers selected by the community who undertake training for one years after secondary education and they are part of the Ethiopian Health Extension Program.
REACH ETHIOPIA doubled the TB case notification in a population of 3 million and achieved treatment success rate of 93%. Over the following years it has expanded into new geographical areas, currently serving a population of more than 7 million people. The number of TB cases detected has continued to increase dramatically in all areas where the activities are implemented, demonstrating that there are large numbers of cases not attending health facilities and that bringing services to the door step is both accepted by the community and significantly increases case detection and treatment outcome.
Dr Datiko said: “I am honoured to receive on behalf of REACH Ethiopia, the prestigious Kochon prize. REACH Ethiopia is a small and young organisation that works hard to bring health services, and especially TB services, to rural populations in the South of Ethiopia. Our innovative community-based approach has demonstrated that making TB diagnostic and treatment accessible at the community, increases the detection of cases, enhances treatment completion and reduces the stigma associated with TB. I am grateful to the support received over the years from the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the Health Extension Workers, our frontline workers in the community, the field team who have worked tirelessly, our funders, especially TB REACH/Stop TB partnership. I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Dr Mohammed Yassin, now working at the Global Fund, as a founding member, who together with Professor Luis Cuevas and Dr Sally Theobald at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have provided us with unwavering support over the years.”
REACH ETHIOPIA has shared its experience and has received awards nationally and internationally through participation in several strategic high profile fora, including the World Health Assembly, the World Bank, the UK all-parliamentary working group on TB and the UNION conferences.
The Kochon Prize was stablished in honour of the late Chairman Chong-Kun Lee, founder of the Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corporation and Kochon Foundation in Korea and consists of a USD $65,000 award.
The REACH ETHIOPIA team with Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership, The Kochon prize representatives, Daniel Datiko, Mohammed Yassin and Luis Cuevas