Progress in achieving universal access to care for multidrug- resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Global Health

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) causes 9 million new cases and over 1 million deaths annually worldwide.
• Drug-resistant TB, particularly multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), threatens decades of control progress.
• MDR-TB requires longer, more toxic treatments, impacting patient access to care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess global progress in the detection and treatment of MDR-TB.
• To evaluate performance against World Health Organization (WHO) estimates and targets.

Main Methods:

• Utilized national data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Analyzed reported MDR-TB cases started on treatment versus estimated global caseload.
• Examined treatment completion rates for MDR-TB patients.

Main Results:

• Over half of global MDR-TB cases are concentrated in India, China, and the Russian Federation.
• In 2012, only 25% of estimated MDR-TB cases worldwide began treatment.
• Successful treatment completion was reported for only 48% of MDR-TB patients who started treatment in 2010.

Conclusions:

• Global MDR-TB targets for 2015 are unlikely to be met.
• Urgent action is needed to overcome barriers in MDR-TB diagnosis and treatment expansion.
• New diagnostics and medicines are essential for the WHO's post-2015 global strategy.