Public–private mix for TB prevention and care: a roadmap; 2018 (Sólo inglés)

The importance of engaging private providers to reach all people with TB, with quality care

While there has been significant progress in the fight against TB with 54 million lives saved since 2000, the burden of suffering and death due to TB remains immense. In 2017, 10 million people fell ill with TB and 1.6 million people lost their lives to this leading infectious killer.

Although countries have committed themselves to ending the global TB epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals and the End TB Strategy, actions and investments fall far short. One of the important challenges in the End TB response is ensuring universal access to quality TB services, which is a key component of End TB efforts worldwide as well as the overall universal health coverage agenda.

In 2017, 3.6 million of the estimated 10 million people with TB worldwide were “missed” by national TB programmes (NTPs) (1). Two thirds of them are thought to access TB treatment of questionable quality from public and private providers who are not engaged by the NTP (1). The quality of care provided in these settings is often not known or substandard. Closing these gaps and ensuring patient-centred care imply that quality-assured and affordable TB services must be made available wherever people choose to seek care.