Understanding Psychosocial and Economic Barriers to Develop Innovative People-Centered Models of Tuberculosis Care in Nepal

Speaker: Ms Kritika Dixit is a public health researcher, particularly working on tuberculosis (TB), COVID-19, malaria, and maternal health. She is passionate about developing evidence that aims to improve equitable access to healthcare services in rural communities in Nepal. She is the Research Manager at Birat Nepal Medical Trust and leads the research department. Ms Dixit is also a PhD Candidate at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. She has led IMPACT TB (funded by the European Union), TB REACH Wave V, Seed Award (funded by Wellcome Trust), and TB READY (funded by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene) as M&E or project lead. She has published over ten scientific papers on tuberculosis that provide evidence to inform people-centred models of TB care.

Topic: The goal of this presentation is to provide evidence on the key factors contributing to TB disease in Nepal and the psychosocial consequences of having TB, with a particular focus on stigma, depression, and quality of life. The presentation will also provide the potential strategies that have been identified from the studies to address the psychosocial consequences. The findings will include insights from four studies that are also a part of her PhD, which she will be defending in Stockholm in November 2024.