WHO consolidated guidelines on drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment, update 2018
Publication year: 2019
Tuberculosis (TB) strains with drug resistance (DR-TB) are more difficult to treat than drug-susceptible ones, and threaten global progress towards the targets set by the End TB Strategy of the World Health Organization (WHO). There is thus a critical need for evidence-based policy recommendations on the treatment and care of patients with DR-TB, based on the most recent and comprehensive evidence available. In this regard, the WHO consolidated guidelines on drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment fulfil the mandate of WHO to inform health professionals in Member States on how to improve treatment and care for patients with DR-TB.
Between 2011 and 2018, WHO has developed and issued evidence-based policy recommendations on the treatment and care of patients with DR-TB. These policy recommendations have been presented in several WHO documents and their associated annexes (listed in Box 1), including the WHO treatment guidelines for multidrug- and rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis, 2018 update, issued by WHO in December 2018. The policy recommendations in each of these guidelines have been developed by WHO-convened Guideline Development Groups (GDGs), using the GRADE (Grading of
Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach to summarize the evidence, and formulate policy recommendations and accompanying remarks. The GDGs have been composed of multidisciplinary groups of external experts with experience in different aspects of the programmatic and clinical management of DR-TB, as well as affected individuals. The methods used to develop the recommendations complied with the requirements of WHO’s Guideline Review Committee (GRC), and the GRC has overseen the development of each of these guidelines.