Private Sector Engagement for Tuberculosis Services in Latin America: A Systematic Review.

Abstract

<b>Objectives:</b> Private sector engagement has been shown to improve tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment outcomes in Asia and Africa, but systematic reviews in 2015 and 2017 identified only two reports from Latin America. We conducted a systematic review to identify descriptions of private sector engagement interventions for tuberculosis in Latin America. <b>Methods:</b> We systematically searched for reports on private sector engagement for tuberculosis services in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Western Hemisphere. On 1 November 2024, we searched PubMed, Embase, LILACS, and SciELO, with terms related to tuberculosis, the private sector, and eligible countries. We double-reviewed abstracts and full-text articles and classified private sector engagement mechanisms according to an established framework. <b>Results:</b> We identified seven documents describing five distinct interventions for private sector engagement in 10 countries. The most common engagement mechanism was technical support to increase awareness, knowledge, or capacity in the private sector. Intervention goals included promoting collaboration, ensuring adherence to national guidelines, increasing referrals to the public sector, and reducing tuberculosis drug sales in private pharmacies. Three impact evaluations found evidence of improved referral to the public sector. <b>Conclusions:</b> We found few reports of private sector engagement interventions for tuberculosis in Latin America, suggesting missed opportunities for collaborations to expand and improve tuberculosis service delivery. A lack of impact assessments suggests a dearth of evidence on the best models for private sector engagement to advance tuberculosis elimination in the Latin American region.