MDR/RR-TB in Botswana

Botswana is experiencing one of the highest rates of tuberculosis (TB) in the world and the global priorities for TB care and control are to improve case-detection and detect cases earlier. However, despite notable gains in curtailing the high TB epidemic in Botswana in recent years, public health officials and scientists have noted a growing burden of drug resistant forms of TB in the last few decades posing significant challenges in the treatment and global control of the disease. The disease, which has also been reported in every country and regions of the world surveyed, may be caused by a direct transmission of a resistant strain of TB to uninfected individual or may develop during treatment due to pressure associated with inadequate or inappropriate treatment. Therefore, this book aims to review and document the current burden of the disease and associated factors which is critical for epidemiological surveillance and disease control. This book will remain an important resource for the national tuberculosis control programme to address technical and structural issues that impede optimal prevention, detection and treatment of all forms of tuberculosis.