Linking surveillance with action against drug-resistant tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT: The speed at which most countries with high burdens of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDRTB) have scaled up their capacity to diagnose and treat individuals with these forms of TB has failed to keep pace with the problem. Limited availability of drug susceptibility testing, high costs and inefficiencies in the supply of second-line drugs, and inadequate capacity for the management of patients with MDRTB have contributed to the wide gap between the estimated need for and the delivery of MDRTB treatment. The most recent global estimates indicate that only about 1 in 20 individuals with incident MDRTB will be properly diagnosed; fewer still receive quality-assured treatment. As policy makers confront the threat of growing levels of drug-resistant TB, there is a clear role for improved surv

SUBMITTER: Cohen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3443807 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature