Re-treatment tuberculosis cases categorised as "other": are they properly managed?

Background: Although the World Health Organization (WHO) provides information on the number of TB patients categorised as "other", there is limited information on treatment regimens or treatment outcomes for "other". Such information is important, as inappropriate treatment can lead to patients remaining infectious and becoming a potential source of drug resistance. Therefore, using a cohort of TB patients from a large registration centre in Lilongwe, Malawi, our study determined the proportion of all TB re-treatment patients who were registered as "other", and described their characteristics and treatment outcomes.

Communicable disease control programmes in Malawi.

A series of half-day meetings were held between the Malawi National TB Control Programme and the other seven disease control programmes housed in the Community Health Science Unit (CHSU) to look at the structure and function of these programmes. Data were collected into a structured proforma on human resources, sources of international funding, policies and disease control activities, supportive activities, management organization, monitoring and evaluation and operational research. A number of constraints were identified, particularly in the areas of technical supervision, monitoring and evaluation and operational research.

The diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in Malawi.

There is little information on a country-wide basis in sub-Saharan Africa about how the diagnosis of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is made. A country-wide cross-sectional study was carried out in 40 non-private hospitals in Malawi which register and treat (TB) patients in order to assess diagnostic practices in adults registered with EPTB. All patients aged 15 years and above in hospital on treatment for EPTB were reviewed usingTB registers, case note files and clinical assessment.