A randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of incentives on tuberculosis testing rates in rural Philippines

Abstract Despite efforts to eliminate tuberculosis (TB), the Philippines continues to have one of the highest TB incidence rates in the world. Individuals of low socio-economic status are often at disproportionately high risk of contracting TB. However, TB testing rates remained low among this population, resulting in high disease transmission and deaths. Limited literature exists on interventions aimed at improving TB testing rates among populations living in extreme poverty in the Philippines. Therefore, this clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) will investigate the effects of incentives for enhancing TB testing in rural health units (RHU) in the Philippines. The study will be conducted as part of the TB testing program led by International Care Ministries (ICM), a non-profit organization operating in the Philippines.