TUBERCULOSIS: TB research: active tuberculosis case finding in the Newly Independent States

26-10-2010
The estimated incidence of tuberculosis, globally as well as in the WHO European Region, is declining at a much slower pace than what was anticipated under the Global Plan to Stop TB. The importance of early case detection has been increasingly acknowledged, while the need to detect all forms of TB early has also been emphasized, both from a disease control perspective and from a right-to-care perspective. The few analyses that have been done have mainly assessed the impact of mass population screening, while comparisons of different approaches in different risk populations have been explored to much lesser extent.
A research project to systematically review the impact of active tuberculosis case finding strategies on case detection of active tuberculosis, tuberculosis treatment delays and tuberculosis transmission in the Newly Independent States was launched in October 2010. The project will entail a systematic literature review of active case finding experiences published in selected countries of the WHO European Region, making an inventory of historical and ongoing active case finding approaches, as well as documenting perspectives and opinions of national health policy makers on active case finding in selected countries of the WHO European Region. This project will contribute to the Global review of active tuberculosis case finding to inform policy on intensified case detection strategies, as well as to obtain better estimates for modelling.
http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/diseases-and-conditions/tuberculosis/news2/news/2010/10/tb-research-active-tuberculosis-case-finding-in-the-newly-independent-states