The Government of Peru passed a Ministerial Resolution this month officially adopting new national guidelines for the management of tuberculosis.
The Government of Peru passed a Ministerial Resolution this month officially adopting new national guidelines for the management of tuberculosis. The new guidelines reflect an important shift in strategy for Peru, because they focus on strengthening basic TB control as essential to addressing all forms of TB. In recent years, efforts to scale up care for MDR-TB have tended to overshadow basic TB control measures.
“The Union strongly supports this move, which will advance the national TB programme’s efforts to care for all TB patients”, said José Luis Castro, Interim Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). He added that the resolution is also a significant achievement for The Union Peru Office, established in Lima in 2009, which worked closely with the national TB programme (Estrategia Nacional) on developing these new guidelines.
Peru is not one of the 22 high-burden TB countries, but countrywide there were 29,760 new and relapse notified cases in 2012, according to the 2013 Global TB Report. The rate of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) was 3.9% and of these 35% were previously treated cases. Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) has also been identified there. These conditions are indicative of the kind of breakdown in basic TB control that the new guidelines are expected to address.
“We’re very pleased with the collaborative relationship that has developed between The Union and the TB programme in Peru”, said Castro. “This is a reflection of fine work on both sides and based on the recognition that the best way to manage MDR- and XDR-TB is to prevent it from developing through strong basic care”.
The innovative provisions outlined in the new guidelines include access to standard drug susceptibility testingfor first- and second-line TB drugs and an emphasis on giving new patients tests for HIV, pregnancy, diabetes and other related conditions. In addition, initial and ongoing counseling will be provided to ensure adherence to TB treatment.