This book presents key activities, promising practices, and lessons learned to date from the World Bank’s Tuberculosis (TB) in the Mining Sector Initiative–an innovative multisectoral, multicountry, public-private regional initiative. It examines how a collaborative platform was established to cover 10 southern African countries, and it details the processes through which multiple countries, ministries, sectors, and partners have been brought together to address the varied dimensions of the epidemic. The case studies in this book highlight the significant progress and achievements made since 2010 in the effort to develop a regional platform for addressing TB in the mining sector in southern Africa. The primary focus of the case studies is how these cooperative regional processes–at both technical and political levels–have been designed, implemented, managed, and sustained through various partnerships to complement country-level efforts. The case studies provide an evidence base for practitioners working in TB management in the mining sector. Despite the achievements that have been made and their potential to strengthen TB interventions, critical gaps remain in addressing barriers to access, delivery of quality services, and increased uptake of TB services. The case studies explore these key challenges and gaps, and they offer strategies for replicating successes and addressing complex health-service delivery interventions in other regions around the world. Further action is needed, including better compliance with occupational health and safety standards by mining companies; strengthened community health systems and improved coordination of TB care; increased empowerment and participation of women in the mining sector; and improved tracking and tracing of ex-mineworkers across borders. The aim of the book is to provide helpful models, lessons learned, and recommendations that can be used as a starting point for analyzing the risks, opportunities, incentives, and contexts of regional health cooperation that involves multiple sectors and stakeholders.
