TB Policies in 29 Countries FINDINGS: • Routine hospitalisation for the treatment of DS-TB is required in 21% (6) of countries. These include: Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russian Federation;
• O f the five South East Asian (SEA) countries featured in the report, two countries require hospitalisation for DR-TB treatment. See table 5 for more details.
Daro Sulakauri/MSF
• Routine hospitalisation for the treatment of DR-TB is required in 35% (10) of countries. These include: Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, and Viet Nam; • O f the eight EECA countries featured in the report, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Federation still require hospitalisation for DR-TB treatment; • O f the nine Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries featured in the report, none of the countries require hospitalisation for DR-TB treatment;
TEIMURAZ AJIBA, A PATIENT AT THE REGIONAL CENTER OF INFECTIOUS PATHOLOGY, AIDS AND TUBERCULOSIS IN BATUMI, GEORGIA.
TABLE 5: DS-TB AND DR-TB TREATMENT INITIATION POLICIES DS-TB treatment started at primary health care level
DR-TB treatment started at district level
Hospitalisation required for DS-TB treatment
Hospitalisation required for DR-TB treatment
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, China, DRC, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, PNG, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe
Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines, Russian Federation, South Africa, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe
Armenia*, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation
Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Viet Nam
*preferably as opposed to required
SPOTLIGHT – DECENTRALISATION OF DR-TB TREATMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA In 2007, MSF, in partnership with the local Department of Health (DoH), piloted a decentralised model of care for all forms of DR-TB in Khayelitsha, South Africa, a township with high rates of HIV, DR-TB and TB/HIV co-infection. Overall, 70% of 1,400 cases of DR-TB diagnosed between 2008 and 2014 were among people living with HIV/AIDS.54 Delivering community-based DR-TB treatment and using rapid diagnostics sped up the time from diagnosis to treatment initiation (from 50 to 6 days), boosted patient support, improved survival and lowered costs. 54 Overall, in this decentralised model, 88% of nearly 1,000 people diagnosed with DR-TB between 2009 and 2013 started treatment, versus the national rate of 45%. 54,80 These successes contributed to a 2011 national policy to decentralise DR-TB treatment; 81 however, it is still not standard practice across the country to initiate DR-TB treatment in primary care settings, and patients are waiting for months before being admitted into centralised TB care facilities. 82
The now DoH-run programme features a network of primary care clinics, a short-term inpatient facility, daily care and home treatment delivery for patients who are too sick to visit their clinic; patient-centred counselling and support, which is intensified for patients who miss clinic visits; weekly or monthly self-administered continuation phase treatment supported by Community Care Workers; and individualised treatment with new and repurposed TB medicines.54 Decentralisation has not necessarily improved DR-TB treatment outcomes, although it is likely to reduce direct transmission through early case detection and treatment initiation. From 2007 until 2012, 37% of people with pre extensively drug-resistant (pre-XDR) TB and 26% of people with XDR-TB were cured.54 The poor outcomes were mainly due to loss to follow-up and the limited effectiveness of treatment for pre-XDR and XDR-TB. These challenges underscore the urgent need for less toxic, more effective and shorter treatment regimens for DR-TB.
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