Timely initiation of MDR-TB treatment

Timely initiation of Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DR-TB) treatment is essential for an effective TB control programme. Delays in initiating DR-TB treatment increase the risk of death and transmission of DR-TB within communities. DR-TB is diagnosed using GeneXpert testing, results are available to the local clinics within twenty four hours and DR-TB services have been decentralised to Primary Health Care Facilities to potentially reduce the length of time taken to initiate DR-TB treatment. However, it has been reported that despite these efforts, a large number of patients fail to initiate DR-TB treatment. Direct transmission is becoming the main driver of new DR-TB infections in the Western Cape and late initiation of treatment contributes to the spread of DR-TB within the community.