Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) remains deadly and more difficult and expensive to diagnose and treat. Barriers and gaps in DR-TB impact every step in the DR-TB cascade. They range from unable to find the DR-TB cases (low detection) to limited or no access to the diagnostic network (WHO recommended rapid diagnostic test-WRD-WRD); when cases are detected, not all end up started or enrolled on treatment (diagnostic-clinical interface leakages), those who are enrolled or started on treatment either experiences side effects while on treatment that are not well managed (lack of strong aDSM) or stop following the treatment (lost-to-follow up-LTFU) or die (high mortality). In short, at every step in the DR-TB patient pathway, severe barriers and gaps exist that negatively impact patients’ experiences and undermine TB program performance. Moreover, despite the development of newer, shorter, and less toxic regimens, the treatment success rate for DR-TB remains around 60 percent, and the new regimen’s introduction and scale-up globally remain slow— lack of access to drug-susceptibility tests as well as correct estimating the DR-TB burden (DRS) also remains as challenges.
In this webinar, learn about:
- What specific actions are needed in your country to address the barriers and gaps in DR-TB care?
- Does your country have a comprehensive plan to address the known barriers?
- What short-term technical assistance would the country need to implement the comprehensive plan?
