Towards Universal Access to Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment
THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC, IRAQ, JORDAN, LEBANON, TURKEY, WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP, EGYPT
Technical and operational ‘how-to’: practical considerations
The new WHO guidelines provide recommended steps for safe phlebotomy and reiterate accepted principles for drawing, collecting blood and transporting blood to laboratories/blood banks.
Specific measures are being taken within the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) to address the MDR TB problem through appropriate management of patients and strategies to prevent the propagation and dissemination of MDR TB.
The term "Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB" (PMD...T) refers to programme based MDR TB diagnosis, management and treatment. This guideline promotes full integration of basic TB control and PMDT activities under the NTP, so that patients with TB are evaluated for drug resistance and are placed on the appropriate treatment regimen and properly managed from the outset of treatment, or as early as possible. The guidelines also integrate the identification and treatment of more severe forms of drug resistance, such as extensively drug resistant TB (XDR TB).
At the end, the guideline introduces new standards for registering, monitoring and reporting outcomes of multidrug resistant TB cases.
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