The introduction of video-enabled directly observed therapy (video-DOT) for patients with drug-resistant TB disease in Eswatini amid the COVID-19 pandemic - a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Video-enabled directly observed therapy (video-DOT) has been proposed as an additional option for treatment provision besides in-person DOT for patients with drug-resistant TB (DRTB) disease. However, evidence and implementation experience mainly originate from well-resourced contexts. This study describes the operationalization of video-DOT in a low-resourced setting in Eswatini facing a high burden of HIV and TB amid the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustained high fatality during TB therapy amid rapid decline in TB mortality at population level: A retrospective cohort and ecological analysis from Shiselweni, Eswatini.

Objectives: Despite declining TB notifications in Southern Africa, TB-related deaths remain high. We describe patient- and population-level trends in TB-related deaths in Eswatini over a period of 11 years.

Methods: Patient-level (retrospective cohort, from 2009 to 2019) and population-level (ecological analysis, 2009-2017) predictors and rates of TB-related deaths were analysed in HIV-negative and HIV-coinfected first-line TB treatment cases and the population of the Shiselweni region.