Effectiveness of smoking cessation intervention based on the ABC Approach in patients with TB.

Setting: Urban setting in the Philippines.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the ABC Approach developed by The Union as a tobacco-smoking cessation intervention for TB patients at a primary healthcare level in an urban setting in the Philippines.

Design: We set up an intervention group whose patients with TB received the ABC approach and a control group of patients with TB receiving only routine health education in Manila, The Philippines.

Ensuring continuous TB treatment across Asian borders.

Background: Mid-treatment cross-border migration of patients with TB increases the risk of treatment interruption.

Objective: To establish a cross-border referral process for patients with TB in Japan, and enhance their access to health facilities and treatment outcomes.

Design: This prospective cohort study describes and assesses the process of foreign-born patients with TB who returned to their home countries during treatment, focusing on their access to healthcare facilities and treatment outcomes.

Epidemiology of latent tuberculosis infection in Japan-born and foreign-born children in Japan.

Objective: This study aims to compare the epidemiology of notifications of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among Japan-born and foreign-born children in Japan between 2010 and 2020, and to assess the language used during LTBI case interviews with parents or caregivers of foreign-born children with LTBI during 2019.

Methods: Our study consisted of two parts: (1) an analysis of national data from the Japan Tuberculosis Surveillance (JTBS) system on the epidemiology of LTBI among Japan-born and foreign-born children in Japan, and (2) a survey of staff at public health centres that had registered at least one foreign-born child aged ≤ 14 years with LTBI. Data were extracted from the JTBS system for all children aged ≤ 14 years who were newly notified as having LTBI between 2010 and 2020, and analysed to determine trends, characteristics and treatment outcomes.

A qualitative exploration of tuberculosis patients who were lost to follow-up in Malaysia.

Background: Loss to follow-up (LTFU) is an unsuccessful treatment outcome for tuberculosis (TB) patients. In Malaysia, LTFU affects around 1 in 20 TB patients. Integration of qualitative research methods and evidence will provide a better understanding of LTFU and its underlying issues.