The seventh edition of an important Union technical guide, entitled ‘Management of Tuberculosis: A Guide to Essential Practice’, has been published and is available in print and online.
The seventh edition of an important Union technical guide, entitled ‘Management of Tuberculosis: A Guide to Essential Practice’, has been published and is available in print and online.
Management of Tuberculosis, also known as ‘The Orange Guide’ for its recognisable orange cover, was first published in 1986. Widely used reference for health workers worldwide, this is The Union’s most popular and widely used publication, with more than 50,000 copies printed in five languages. Each new revision reflects the changing dynamics of the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic and the evolving methods for TB management.
The Union created the first edition of this resource as countries began developing national TB control programmes and policies in the late 1970s, to ensure these emerging programmes had easier access to the knowledge of Union experts, who had extensive experience working in the field.
This latest edition, launched during a press conference at the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health, includes new information on bacteriological diagnosis of TB, management of people with tuberculous infection, co-management of people with TB and selected comorbidities, such as HIV infection, diabetes mellitus and tobacco use. The guide also contains a chapter on the treatment of drug-resistant TB and prevention of TB.
Dr Riitta Dlodlo, Senior Advisor for The Union, coordinated the development of this edition and hopes the resource will help strengthen the global work to end TB. “Strong and well-functioning national TB responses are essential to drive TB elimination efforts and to coordinate multi-sectoral engagement across relevant stakeholder groups. This resource provides the technical guidance to support that effort.”
The seventh edition has been revised to newly include support with creating a register for management of presumptive TB and now includes a form for quarterly facility TB reports. These tools help local health staff start to actively use routinely available TB data to find ‘missing’ people with TB, closing gaps in TB care cascades and ensuring good quality TB services. This is explained in the guide and its supplementary materials that include samples for data tabulation and analysis.
“This guide contains all the basics we need to support and train staff in our TB-HIV collaborative activities”, says Dr Tafadzwa Goverwa-Sibanda, Medical Director at Mpilo Centre of Excellence in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, who uses the guide in her work. “Particularly useful is the chapter that focuses on decreasing the burden of TB in people living with HIV, which explains proper care through a step-by-step approach and makes implementation very practical.
“I also liked the way infection control is emphasised as a key TB preventive strategy in the guide. I have used this chapter to train our opportunistic infection staff on TB-HIV collaboration, and our nurses have then used the guide to come up with an infection control plan for the clinic.”
The publication has proved to be one of The Union’s most practical contributions to TB care and management and has been widely used in TB hospitals, clinics, laboratories and administrative offices around the world. Its straightforward approach has provided front-line health workers, TB coordinators and managers working at sub-national and national levels with the day-to-day information and tools they need to meet the challenges of TB care and prevention.
Management of Tuberculosis: A Guide to Essential Practice is available to download free-of-charge, and hard copies will be distributed through Union courses and conferences. It is presently available in English, with French and Spanish versions available in 2020.