Consolidated guidance on tuberculosis data generation and use: Module 4: Surveys of costs faced by households affected by tuberculosis
Overview
One of the three high-level targets of the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy (2016–2035) is that no TB-affected households face total costs that are catastrophic. To assess progress towards this target, WHO recommends periodic national surveys of the costs incurred by people treated for TB and their households.
These surveys have three primary objectives:
- to document the magnitude and main drivers of different types of costs incurred by people treated for TB and their households;
- to estimate the percentage of TB-affected households that incur total costs due to TB that are catastrophic (defined as >20% of annual household income);
- to determine use of existing policies to mitigate costs and other socioeconomic impacts faced by people treated for TB and their households, and to recommend refinements of existing policies, or the design of new ones, based on survey results.
A first edition of guidance on survey design, implementation, analysis and use of results was published in 2017 (available here). This is an updated, 2025 version that has been improved and expanded based on lessons learned from surveys implemented between 2015 and 2024. Links to additional resource materials are provided below.
Resource materials
Data collection questionnaire
Paper-based: English (editable Word version)
Electronic (E-survey) I Ona XLS form
