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Employing Technology for a
TB Free Pakistan
A case study
NTP Pakistan
Overview
The Need
NTP wished to conduct a survey though GIS
technology in four major cities of Pakistan, to
track presence and transmission of TB. The aim
of the project was to inhabit the spread of TB.
The Solution
NTP used a comprehensive web and mobile
application to carry out the survey and meet
project objectives by applying GIS technology,
training field operators, effective data recording,
and efficient monitoring & tracking.
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health
problems in Pakistan, with approximately 420, 000 new
TB cases emerging every year and half of these being
sputum smear positive. The country ranks 5th amongst
TB high-burden countries worldwide. The National
Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) was launched by
The Government of Pakistan in 1995, following WHO’s
declaration of TB as a global emergency in 1993. The
Program was revived in 2001 with a mission of a ‘TB free
Pakistan’.
Applying GIS Technology to
Study the Transmission of TB
The Benefits
• Gathering TB data through mobile applications
using Urdu/English forms
• Managing and integrating TB data with the
web application
• Near Real-Time Statistical analysis, visualization
and reporting on TB data
• Documenting/Publishing spatial data, maps,
Meta data for access on the web
• Tracking field operators to monitor actual
journey
• Dynamic reporting and analytics.
In 2013, NTP wished to study the transmission of TB by
using GIS based technology in four major cities of
Pakistan including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and
Faisalabad to assess the spread of the disease and inhibit its prevalence. LMKT Pvt. Ltd. was chosen as the desired technology partner for this project.
To meet project objectives, LMKT developed an
enterprise scale GIS infrastructure capable of mapping
TB patients along with their details, specified in a form,
which was to be filled by trained staff through a portable mobile application to ensure mobility and accuracy
of information. The designed system was able to present the true picture of TB transmission and spread on a
single platform, along with reports and analytics to the
management through a web interface based on access
rights.
Effective Data Recording Through
Mobile Application
LMKT developed a comprehensive survey mechanism for NTP to measure TB transmission across
Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Islamabad using field operators. For this, it developed 2 types of
customized applications within the project.

Mobile application for NTP in order to facilitate the
Field operator to upload filled survey forms in real time
to back office Server

Web application/Back office application for TB patient
information analysis, survey data analysis and symptoms analysis.
The application displayed TB data on a map with exact
geographical position of cases scanned in a 50 m radius of
a TB patient, with a clear demarcation of suspects and TB
patients. The application was based on a rich feature set
that included detailed information of a particular record,
number of scanned cases, suspects and TB patients.
This customized mobile application allowed field operators
to instantly identify geographical areas of interest by
clearly marking them on the screen and providing
warnings in case of any deviation. This helped NTP in
recording TB symptoms of a particular index case,
household and community members with accuracy.
Further, the application facilitated users to save offline
data in the event of non-availability of GPRS connection.
The user was able to work in the offline mode and update
the records any time later, once GPRS connectivity was
regained. The user also had the advantage of editing
records from the database anytime. Additionally, the
system stored data in a format easily exportable to
Microsoft Excel, in order for it to be used by statistical
tools like SPSS. It also offered a swift generation of city
wise geographical reports for the management, to enable
quick decision making.
The GIS based web and mobile
application developed by LMKT
enabled NTP to survey individuals
for TB transmission, from Rawalpindi, Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad
Improving Accountability
Real time tracking remained one of the most important features of the developed application. It allowed
the NTP management to track field officers while they were out in the field surveying, thereby, improving
monitoring of staff and increasing reliability of collected data. Accountability of field operators was assured
through the following built-in features of the mobile app:
A mechanism put in place to track field operators using GPS technology, to provide exact location of the field
operator to the back office management staff
GPS automatically switched on upon the initiation of survey application.
Tracking Techniques
LMKT incorporated various tracking techniques within the mobile application in order to facilitate field
operators to fill correct data. These included:

Delivering detailed base maps of the relevant
cities to NTP including the parcel level information so that field operators can quickly
identify the number of households within 50
m radius of a TB patient.

A geo fenced circle was developed in order to
facilitate the field operator to verify the area
of coverage.

Offline database was created within the mobile application to hold data in case of unavailability of GPRS/EDGE connection. Once
the connection was established the data automatically synchronized with the back office
application

Various survey forms were created and links were provided in order to quickly move across different
forms to gather data.

Forms were created in both Urdu and English to help field operators.

Real time synchronization between the mobile and back office web application was facilitated, for quick
decision making.
Training Field Operators
The most challenging part of the project was to select suitable field operators, train them for this project
and carry out the field activity using the mobile application. NTP conducted detailed interviews for this
purpose, selected community members and trained them with the help of LMKT. LMKT deployed their best
trainers to provide a 3 day comprehensive training to the field operators in order to enable them to use the
mobile application and record TB transmission correctly.
Are you a Health Care Provider?
GIS based technology solutions by LMKT help health professionals:

Gather accurate and timely data

Correlate data with geographical locations for sound decision making

Discover geographic origins of symptomatic populations

Identify specific locations of vulnerable populations

Identify congregate groups targeted for preventive measures

Create maps to help organizations and professionals establish field clinics and locate medical supplies

Provide information relevant for community leadership planning and response.
For More Information
To learn more about how LMKT can help you realize your business objectives
please contact LMKT sales representative or visit us at: www.LMKT.com