Policies and practices on the programmatic management of LTBI: a survey in the African Region

Although the management of latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) is a core component of the End TB Strategy, there is limited information about the status of implementation of such interventions in most African countries.

A web-based survey involving the 47 countries of the African Region was conducted between November 2016 and April 2017.

The questionnaire was completed by 32/47 (68.1%) National TB Programme managers or their delegates. LTBI guidelines were available in four countries (12.5%), while 13 (40.6%) had an LTBI section in their national TB guidelines; there was no significant association with socio-economic conditions and funding allocation. LTBI diagnosis was mostly based on clinical evaluation to rule out active disease, rather than on systematic use of the tuberculin skin test. Respectively 23 (71.8%) and 17 countries (53.1%) reported providing treatment to child contacts aged <5 years and people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV). Over two thirds of respondent countries had ongoing activities targeting at least one of the aforementioned high-risk groups. A recording and reporting system for LTBI-related data on child contacts and PLHIV was available in respectively 14 and 12 countries; 7 countries had an LTBI monitoring and evaluation plan.

These data suggest that greater effort is needed to appropriately scale up LTBI policies in the African Region.