Abstract

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis is a global public health concern, as its management is complicated and expensive. First, it is difficult to diagnose. Several weeks are needed to identify mycobacterial strains and to do drug susceptibility testing with traditional bacteriological methods; with new rapid methods, diagnosis is faster and easier, but these methods have not been scaled up for use at programme level and have not been extensively validated. Second, MDR tuberculosis is difficult to treat. Second-line tuberculosis drugs are much more expensive and toxic than first-line drugs, meaning that only specialised centres can treat patients with MDR tuberculosis and that universal access of these drugs is still far from being achieved.

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