IIT Madras students win hackathon on eradicating tuberculosis stigma

IIT Madras students win TB stigma hackathon with innovative solutions, supported by REACH and IIT Madras CTaP.

Three students from the Department Of Management Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras won a hackathon on TB stigma held recently.  

The India Tuberculosis (TB) Stigma Hackathon 2024 was organised by REACH, in collaboration with the Centre for Technology and Policy (CTaP) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). The hackathon was supported by StopTB Partnership. 

The hackathon was open to postgraduate students who could participate in groups of three and develop a creative and actionable solution to address TB-related stigma.  

Of the 35 registrations from 15 colleges and universities across 10 states and union territories whose participants included students from management, public health, engineering, business, law and social sciences 24 solutions were received. They included using nano influencers to raise awareness; AI-powered medication tracker with mood monitoring and gamified tasks; cloud kitchens managed by TB survivors providing tailored nutrition; and leveraging brand ambassadors to break stereotypes about TB.  

Twelve teams were shortlisted for presentation. The jury included former State chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan; former senior advisor at Asian Development Bank Anuradha Rajivan; senior vice president at Infosys Bhaskar Kakuturu; founder and director of New Concept Information Systems Raghavan Srinivasan; and TB Champion Raazya Mumtaz.  

The evaluations focused on the participants’ understanding of TB stigma, originality of ideas, feasibility, and potential impact. 

“This Hackathon was an effort to bring together diverse, unconventional solutions to address a pressing public health challenge,” said REACH director Ramya Ananthakrishnan, adding:  “Our goal is to transform these ideas into pilot interventions.”