Table 4 Lessons learnt and persisting research gaps

Social protection interventions for TB control require inter-sectorial collaborations

• What are the most effective and cost-effective partnership models for welfare and TB control bodies?

• What are the best ways to integrate poverty reduction strategies and biomedical activities for TB control?

TB-specific conditional cash transfers are feasible and safe, but logistically complex

• What is the role of conditions in achieving the intervention objectives?

• Are conditional, unconditional or combined cash transfers preferable and how does this depend on the settings in which the cash transfer program is implemented? [62]

• What conditions are too hard to achieve for TB patients despite being well rewarded?

• What is the best way to balance the conditions for the cash transfers in order that they reflect both the priorities of patients and their households, and the priorities of researchers and policy makers? [63]

• What is the role of the size and timing of cash transfers on the impact of the intervention?

• What is the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different delivery mechanisms?

TB-specific conditional cash transfers can be challenging to deliver to difficult-to-reach populations

• What are the optimal ways to adapt conditional cash transfer settings targeted at hard-to-reach populations in challenging urban environments characterised by violence, drug-addiction and marginalisation?

• Should social protection interventions only be offered to high-risk patients or is it more cost-efficient to offer them to all patients plus an enhanced intervention to high-risk patients?

• Is cash without social support sufficient to reach high-risk-patients or is social support necessary?

Health and financial management education are necessary and ethically appropriate

• Would cash transfers have the same impact even without an educational component?

• What is the empowering factor of the cash transfers to TB patients: 1) receiving cash; or 2) being acknowledged and seen as individuals with rights and needs?

• What is the aspect of the social protection intervention most likely to impact on TB prevention and cure: a) the economic dimension of cash transfers; b) the social dimension of home visits and community meetings; or c) both?