Rural Methodology

In rural areas, OpASHA uses mobile DOTS, where a counselor travels from village to village on a motorcycle/scooter, carrying with him strips of anti-TB drugs and other supplies. The counselor gives the medicine to each patient at her house or a mutually convenient place, and observes them swallow the dose. Fifteen percent of centers in India and  all centers in Cambodia, except one, follow this pattern.

Every day, the counselor spends substantial time in one village looking for suspects. The counselor also collects sputum samples from each of the suspects and carries it to a pre-assigned location, where a person, again on a motorcycle, is waiting to take sputum samples to the government lab.

Mobile counselor in rural areas does the work that is carried out by counselor + provider in urban slums.