The TIMS (TB in the Mining Sector) Grant is funded by the Global Fund to contribute towards the reduction of the TB burden in the mining sector in Southern African countries.

The objectives of the TIMS Grant are to increase:

1. TB case finding among the key populations in the mining sector in Southern Africa
2. The proportion of key populations on TB treatment that complete their treatment
3. The proportion of key populations with TB that are tested for HIV and enrolled for ART

Yes, regional grants are different from country grants. Regional grants bring together several countries within a region to address a particular disease burden such as TB. Generally, programmatic interventions in regional grants are scaled up and replicated in participating countries. Country grants on the other hand only respond to the disease burden in the specific country.

A regional response to the TB epidemic is required because of the relationship between mobility and TB. The migration of mineworkers across regions within a country and across countries makes TB in the mining sector a complex regional problem that can only be effectively addressed at a regional level than country level. No one country can eradicate TB given these migration patterns that act as vehicles of transmission.

The key interventions of the TIMS Grant are:

1. Improving TB Care and Prevention by developing and Implementing TB surveillance systems, expanding occupational health service delivery and improving TB prevention, care and treatment behaviour.
2. Strengthening Health Information Systems and Monitoring & Evaluation by conducting surveys: Geospatial Mapping and Epidemiological surveys and strengthening continuity of TB care and treatment.
3. Influencing policy and governance by strengthening and sustaining political, policy, and technical coordination at regional level.
4. Removing legal barriers to access by conducting legal and policy environment assessment and law reform.
5. Community systems strengthening by improving access to TB, silicosis and HIV services by key populations.

The beneficiaries of the TIMS Grant include these key populations:

• Current mineworkers: this is any person who works in a mine of any type (large, medium, small, artisanal, formal or informal) regardless of their immigration or employment status (full-time/part-time, contract, sub-contract or casual).
• Ex-mineworkers: these constitute any person who previously worked in a mine, regardless of their immigration or employment status, whether full time/part time, contract, sub-contract or casual.
• Families of both current and ex-mineworkers, including their spouses and children.
• Communities around the mines and communities in the labour-sending areas. In peri-mining areas, women and sex workers constitute key affected populations, given their vulnerability to HIV infection due to their interaction with the large mine worker population.

The TIMS Grant is implemented in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Since this is a regional grant there is no country allocations. The TIMS Grant is focused on the breadth and scale of the regional interventions. The number of interventions and scale thereof will be driven by the size of the key populations and disease burden in each of these countries. A number of studies will be conducted to inform the scale of interventions in each country and provide relevant information on the size of key populations and disease burden.

Evidence informs targeting of the interventions. In addition to existing data, TIMS plans to conduct mapping, population based and epidemiological studies to build this evidence.

This is a 2 year grant. The grant went live in January 2016 and will conclude in December 2017.

Like many other grants funding will end. However, there is an expectation that third year funding will be awarded by the Global Fund based on performance. In addition, the project management team will also actively explore alternative continuing funding during the life of the grant. Important also, is that interventions in this grant are ultimately embedded within country programmes. In order to ensure this happens, some of the interventions will have sustainability plans to ensure longevity beyond the period of the grant.

The services of select CSOs in the 10 countries will be procured under the TIMS Grant to provide advocacy, communication and social mobilisation activities among the key populations. In addition, CSOs will support the promotion and protection of human rights and removal of gender barriers to seeking care among key populations.

The first implementer of the TIMS Grant is the Principal Recipient (PR) who is the entity legally responsible for program results and financial accountability. The second implementers are Sub Recipients (SRs) and Service Providers (SPs), who are selected through a rigorous process by the Proposal Review Committees consisting of subject matter experts, staff from the development partners and the PR.

Wits Health Consortium (WHC) is the PR of the TIMS Grant. The PR is the entity legally responsible for program results and financial accountability.

The role of the RCM is to serve as the principal oversight body to the TIMS Grant.

While CCMs will have no official role on the TIMS Grant, they may conduct site visits as part of their oversight role for Global Fund grants in their respective countries. CCMs are also able to participate in the grant through the RCM.

The role of the NTCP Office is to serve as focal or entry point for the TIMS Grant into the respective countries. NTP programs are considered a key program partner for the grant.

Different stakeholders can support the TIMS Grant by greater collaboration within and across governments, civil society organizations, communities, researchers, private sector companies and development agencies. Stakeholders also support the TIMS grant through participations in regional structures like Southern African Development Community (SADC), Regional Coordinating Mechanism (RCM) and the PIC (Programme Implementation Committee).

The PR has a comprehensive communications plan to ensure that all stakeholders are being engaged adequately. The stakeholders for this project encompass a wide group from miners to ministers. The information on the project progress will be communicated via the following channels:

• The TIMS website is the information hub for the project and is available to all stakeholders, progress is documented here. However, key stakeholder have secure logins to information housed on the site specific to them.
• E-mail newsletter on the key development/highlights of the project progress will be sent to key stakeholders.
• Quarterly report on the project progress, which is more comprehensive than the newsletter, will be sent to key stakeholders.
• The PR will also engage local media to disseminate information about TIMS initiatives to stakeholders in mining communities.
• In addition, the PR will present at conferences locally and internationally to share lessons learned and best practices in designing, implementing and managing large and complex regional grants.

The monetary value of the TIMS Grant for the 2 years is 30,000,000 USD.