Addressing drug-resistant TB
Drug-resistant TB poses a major threat to TB care and prevention in the Western Pacific Region. In 2021, there were an estimated 70 000 incident cases of multidrug-resistant TB or rifampicin-resistant TB (MDR/RR-TB) in the Region. This constitutes 16% of the global burden of MDR/RR-TB. Several challenges exist in programmatic management of drug-resistant TB in the Region. The detection of drug-resistant TB among notified pulmonary TB cases is low and treatment outcomes for drug-resistant TB cases also remain a major concern.
Scaling-up the regional and national response to drug-resistant TB requires improvements of the several critical steps in the cascade of services:
- Expansion of testing for drug-resistant TB/access to WHO-recommended rapid diagnostic tests for first and second-line drug susceptibility testing.
- Ensuring that all diagnosed patients are promptly notified and enrolled in recommended drug-resistant TB treatment regimens.
- Ensuring that all enrolled people with drug-resistant TB complete their treatment under effective patient-centred support.
To address challenges in drug-resistant TB, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office created the regional Green Light Committee (rGLC) consisting of a group of experts in the region to assist countries in scaling up the Programmatic Management of Drug-resistant TB (PMDT) in high-quality and patient-centred ways. The rGLC provides technical assistance on various aspects of PMDT and also supports capacity building in specific areas based on identified needs.
