Rapid Communication: on forthcoming changes to the programmatic management of tuberculosis preventive treatment

Overview

This Rapid Communication announces a number of updates to WHO’s latest guidance on tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment. These changes are expected to enhance the scale-up of preventive treatment worldwide in line with the vision of the WHO End TB Strategy and the UN High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018. The release of this Rapid Communication at this juncture is important to inform countries as many of them are in the process of developing national TB strategic plans and related funding proposals for donors like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

An estimated one fourth of the world’s population is infected with the TB bacterium, of whom 5-10% advance to active TB disease in their lifetime. TB preventive treatment, when given to people at the highest risk of progressing from TB infection to disease, remains a critical intervention to benefit individuals and communities alike. Globally, preventive treatment of people at risk, particularly contacts of TB patients, remains low. Accelerating TB prevention rollout is essential to achieving the global UN High-Level Meeting target of reaching at least 30 million people with TB preventive treatment by 2022.