Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease, which spreads easily through air. So, the people a TB patient meets on a daily basis, primarily family members and relatives, are at immediate risk of contracting the infection or even the disease. Therefore, it is critical for the fight against TB to detect the disease at the earliest by tracing the contacts of the patients and testing them for the disease.

IMPACT initiative, the second phase of TB REACH initiative, aims to increase case detection amongst contacts of TB patients by encouraging them to undergo screening test followed by GeneXpert test to detect tuberculosis.

Started in May 2016 in association with the Chennai Corporation and National Institute of Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, IMPACT is being implemented through funding from the Cities Zero Tb Project and Advance Access and Delivery. The foremost objective is to reinstate the innovative public private partnership model. Household contacts of all smear positive patients registered with RTNCP are traced, counselled and screened.

IMPACT (Improved Pathway for Active Contact Tracing) is spread throughout Chennai and contains 36 Tuberculosis Units including North, Central, and South Chennai districts.