Participation of private providers in the National TB Programme in South India

SETTING: India has the highest number of new TB cases worldwide. The participation of private providers (PPs) in the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) has remained suboptimal. OBJECTIVE: To explore the experiences, barriers and facilitators about their participation in the NTEP as perceived by PPs working in varied settings. DESIGN: Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to engage PPs to obtain their views on participation in the NTEP. Framework and thematic content analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. RESULTS: Non-availability of a comprehensive range of diagnostics and lack of flexibility in the NTEP were barriers to participation in NTEP. PPs were predisposed to think that NTEP was for those who could not afford to purchase medications. Attitudes and previous experiences with NTEP made them sceptical about the NTEP regimen. Although more frequent interactions were sought with NTEP, some bitterness about previous interactions was perceived. CONCLUSION: Challenges identified by PPs for the NTEP include improvement of the quality of TB care, especially at the lower levels of care, availability of a comprehensive range of diagnostics, being friendly to PPs and patients, more frequent interactions with PPs, and more caring conversations with patients at NTEP centres.