Implementing tuberculosis preventive treatment in high-prevalence settings

Latent tuberculosis infection affects one quarter of the world's population, and effective therapies are available. However, scale-up of tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) remains limited. We describe strategies to support scale-up of TPT in high-prevalence settings, where the potential benefit for affected individuals is considerable. Patients must be at the centre of policies to scale-up TPT. Addressing the health system requirements for scale-up will ensure that programs can deliver treatment safely, efficiently and sustainably. Further research is required to adapt TPT to local contexts, and develop new shorter treatments that will be suitable for wide-scale deployment. Crown Copyright (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.

Automated summary

Strategies to support scale-up of tuberculosis preventive treatment in high-prevalence settings include placing patients at the center of policies, addressing health system requirements, and conducting further research to adapt to local contexts and develop shorter treatments.