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Alice Sagwidza-Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) are global challenges. Treatment of both requires prolonged and toxic therapies. Centralised inpatient treatment, delivered by specialist doctors and nurses in a specialised hospital, is still a common practice in many MDR-TB high-burden countries. But the lack of hospitals, long waiting lists for admissions, and high hospitalisation costs present challenges. Decentralised care on the other hand is located in the local community in which the patient resides - community health centres, clinics, religious and other community venues, patient’s home or workplace— and may include a brief period of initial hospitalization. It is delivered mainly by trained volunteers, community nurses or non-specialised doctors. So, is decentralized treatment and care for MDR-TB patients to be preferred over the centralised one in terms of leading to improved treatment success rate, b...

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis. As per WHO’s Global TB Report 2016 , 480,000 people fell ill with MDR-TB in 2015, with 3 countries - India, China, and Russia - carrying the major burden and together accounting for nearly half of all MDR-TB cases globally. Detection and treatment gaps continue to plague the MDR-TB response. In 2015, only 1 out of every 5 people needing treatment for MDR-TB were able to access it and only 52% of those who started MDR-TB treatment were cured . Dr Mel Spigelman, TB Alliance “These sobering statistics remind us of our urgency to continue the fight to develop better, faster and affordable treatments that will finally bring this pandemic under control,” said Dr Mel Spigelman , CEO of TB Alliance , which is working to advance several promising regimens to tackle all forms of TB. The current MDR-TB regimen lasts for 2 years or more. It includes medicines and injectables that are not only...

Shobha Shukla - CNS (Citizen News Service) [ Watch this video interview ] [ Listen or download this audio podcast ] "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies" are the immortal words of Saint Mother Teresa, which sum up what Dr Kuldeep Singh Sachdeva asserts to hasten the pace of progress for a disease-free India. Dr KS Sachdeva has healed thousands of patients in a tertiary level hospital in India’s capital Delhi, has served an illustrious inning at India's national tuberculosis programme and is  now serving as Deputy Director General at the national AIDS programme in India. [ Watch this video interview ] | [ Listen or download this audio podcast ] He spoke with CNS (Citizen News Service) at the sidelines of the 9th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2016). This interview is part of CNS Inspire series – featuring people who have decades of experience in health and development, and learning from them what went well and ...

Dr KS Sachdeva is the Deputy Director General at National AIDS Control Programme of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Prior to that he made seminal contribution to shaping the national tuberculosis programme of India and also had two decades of clinical work at a prestigious tertiary level hospital in India's capital Delhi. This audio podcast features his interview as part of CNS Inspire series. [ Click here to download or listen to this podcast ]

This is an audio recording of an exclusive webinar for media where WHO Global TB Programme and International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union) experts shared the scientific highlights of the 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK. [ Click here to listen or download this audio podcast ]

Ashok Ramsarup, CNS, South Africa WHO's latest Global Tuberculosis Report reveals some shocking statistics: Tuberculosis ( TB) deaths jumped to 1.8 million in 2015 from 1.5 million in 2014, with 41% of people estimated to have fallen sick with the disease being left undiagnosed and untreated . The treatment gap for people with drug-resistant TB remains morbidly high – in 2015, just 20% of people sick with drug-resistant forms of TB received the treatment they needed. The WHO Global TB Report is a wake-up call to break the status quo in how TB, and its drug-resistant forms, are being diagnosed and treated. Governments have agreed on targets to end the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic both at the World Health Assembly and at the United Nations General Assembly within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. They include a 90% reduction in TB deaths and an 80% reduction in TB cases by 2030 compared with 2015. "We face an uphill battle to reach the global targets for tubercu...

[ Watch webinar record ing ] [ Listen or download the audio podcast ] We welcome you to register for an exclusive media webinar where experts from the W orld Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Programme and Int ernational Union Agains t Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) will share scientific highlights of the forthcoming 47th Union World Conference on Lung Health in L iverpoo l, UK. [ Watch webinar record ing ]   [ Listen or download the audio podcast ] The theme of this conferenc e is: " Confronting resistance: Fundamentals to innovation ". This webinar pr esents a great opportunity to interact with the WHO Global TB Programme and The Un i on e xpe rts on the latest TB related science that will be prese nte d at the conference later this month. Newest scientific updates on tuberculosis, drug resistance, or key findings of important studies which will be presented later at the conference , will be shared on the webi nar. E xperts from the WHO Global TB Progra...